Rizaya collection
by EmilyArtStudios
Summary: A collection (in progress ;w;) of stories I was inspired to make for these two c: (inspired by tumblr, life situations, my own head canons) rizaya/izario
1. Coffee Shop part 1

Hi guys! I'm back but you know... School. ANYWAY LET'S SKIP TO THE MAIN REASON: this will be my folder for head canons, tumblr prompts, life stuff, whatever. these are unfinished stories with a beginning ;w; please keep in mind that some of these may change a lot of things like age, knowledge, maybe it might be OOC MAYBE? (I hate OOC so ill try provide facts on why this character is acting this way.)

more explanations: message me if you want or review :) maybe you want me to finish one of these and ill do my best to finish it! :)

* * *

Summary: tumblr inspired- we go to the same coffee shop every evening to do home work but we never speak to each other until today. (I've altered it somewhat :3)

warnings: older male, younger Female, (please tell me if I missed anything :)

-emilyartstudios

* * *

**Story:**

"You're going to have to turn in the assignment some time Kamichika." He lectures her like he doesn't know that she has been working very hard on the paper since day one in his classroom.

Yet, she still nods respectfully and says "Yes, sir..."

She's a good girl.

He just shakes his head in a somewhat disappointed way and drops her draft on the table. The red pen marks stare up at her in a mocking matter and she tries to avoid them by searching around the empty class room as he writes her a note to leave class.

'_Wondering the halls in the building is a disruption in certain times therefore must be handled immediately.'_

That's one rule out of so many that Rio memorized from this school's student handbook. Sure it's strict but it's necessary.

"Here." He holds the pass in between his fingers. "Make sure to fix your title. It just... Doesn't sound right to me."

She stares at the pass without meeting the professor's eyes. She nods without saying a word and leaves.

She walks down the hall staring down at the writing. The same hand writing that has been printed down on her paper saying _'do better'_ and '_you're doing something wrong.'_

She stuffs the pass in her pocket and continues to walk down the hall. Although rules were presented and told to follow them accordingly, there were students walking in the hallway. Maybe two or three but never over that number. It's peaceful here, and even if it is, Rio will probably try a different place to work on her paper.

_'The class room wasn't working for me anyway...' _She thought.

She makes a turn and opens the door to the outside. It's a warm day outside. Students were everywhere talking to friends, doing homework, or even sleeping.

Rio usually does her home work inside where there were no distractions. Her objective was to go to a quiet place.

She fixes her dress, which was dark blue with a floral design on it, and walks down looking around for a spot. She wasn't exactly surprised there wasn't a quiet spot... Just disappointed.

She hides her paper whenever she passes classmates. It's too embarrassing to show with the noticeable corrections.

She finally decides to just put it in her folder. She digs through her bag and takes it out. A piece of paper suddenly slips out and she stops. She looks around first: next to a tree were three men who seemed older than her. She smiled awkwardly and goes over to it and picks it up. She didn't want to come out as a litter bug.

She places the papers into her folder and continues to walk. Feeling like she's still being watched, she takes a glance at the paper that had fallen. She looks away for a moment to stop her bag from slipping from her shoulder and then directs her eyes back at the small paper. She stops walking again.

The paper was actually a recite she received when ordering her small mocha from the coffee shop she always visits in the morning. She starts to remember how the coffee shop welcomes college students with open arms with pluggers everywhere for laptops and discounts.

She suddenly found her solution. She takes her pass out and walks up to a garbage can. She drops that in and places the recite inside her bag. She smiles in spite of herself and begins to make her way over there.

* * *

She stands next to the shop pretending to read the sign with drinks you can order once inside.

She feels her stomach fill up with a nervous feeling. While walking over, she saw a glimpse of the people inside the coffee shop. There were students in there talking and having fun- just like how a restaurant should look. Rio really doesn't leave her dorm because of the homework she gets so she's not real big on socializing. Being around people made her nervous.

She didn't notice she was touching her own hands a lot- they were also sweating. Her throat felt dry as well.

She tugs at her bag and takes out her phone. 3:16

It's early. She can get her assignment done once she starts as soon as possible. She breaths in and and backs up to enter.

* * *

Right away she notices the smell. It's so different compared to the smell from the morning. If she didn't know better she would think this coffee shop was completely different from the one she knows. She wakes up at exactly 6:00 to get ready and comes here to get her mocha (or really anything depending on her mood.)

Maybe that's why she didn't think twice about coming here in the afternoon. The morning time- mostly empty but not really. Afternoon- packed but... Not really...

She was surprised to see an empty small table next to the window. She walks over there and places her bag on the table. She smiled softly and sits down. She searches through her bag and pulls out her small laptop along with her bad papers. Her mood changed automatically. There was a bitter taste in her mouth and she knew she needed something to drink. She collects her stuff while setting down a number from the side of the table- this says that the table is taken. She then walks to the cashier. She orders a medium mocha this time and walks to her table. She stops and stares over at the table... There was a group of guys next to the table she was sitting- no big deal, right?... Wrong... One of the group members moved themselves over to her table and sits there typing on his phone. She looks around with embarrassment. She doesn't want to just go over there and tell him that spot is taken... Wait maybe she can say her number was there...

She felt herself ask even more questions.

When did they enter? How long was she gone? Will they leave soon? Are there anymore tables available?!

The questions turned to anger within herself: 'Why didn't you just stay in your dorm!?'

Her roommate is quite disruptive and Rio can't focus enough in there. That's one reason why she does work in the classroom.

She suddenly felt her cheeks turn red and her palms began to sweat again. How long has she stood there? Has anyone notice her just standing there? Have they started talking about her?

First thing's first. Her dry mouth.

She takes a sip from her cup and stands up much straighter. She walks over to her original table.

As she gets closer she hears many things. She hears a girl's obnoxious laughter from a joke one of her group members of nine said. Rio hears them laugh with her, but that's one side from the coffee shop. There's also forward in which the males burst out in laughter as well. They don't notice her... Or at least she hopes not. She knows her hands were shaking. She tries to stop them the best way she could. She directed her eyes at the guy sitting down on her table.

He had dark jet black hair. The shirt he was wearing was black as well along with his pants- but the clothing wasn't what caught her attention much- it was his eyes.

They seemed to show stress but a build of enjoyment. That's something Rio hasn't seen... Not ever...

His fingers type away still as if he knows the keyboard well.

A guy leans over and tells him something, Rio pauses her steps for a second. She thought it was just a quick joke to be told and boy it sure was a joke- when his mouth curled up into a small sly half smile when he was told the joke she felt her face feel heavy. It was amazing...

It was also amazing how his eyes changed for that one second. They suddenly turned a splash of delight.

As she blinks she can still see his smile. She gets a hold of herself and continues to walk over.

:::::::::

He drops his look and continues to type. He sighs a bit and stands up straight wanting to find the restroom.

As he looks up the girl he noticed that has been standing at the same spot for about one minute came closer and she seemed to have froze.

He sits back down and looks straight up at her.

"Um..." Her voice was so soft sounding. It was also quiet so now he's alert to see if he won't be able to hear the rest of her words.

"Can I help you?" He noticed from the corner of his eye two of the guys from the group next to him turned around to look.

She became small when he looked at her. That made him curious.

"I-I'm sorry... I just... I put my number there but..."

He slowly looks at the object she pointed to. There was a number there. He hadn't noticed since he was busy replying to the person on the other screen.

He moves over but just a small bit.

She stares at him still and he nods at the empty seat next to him. "There's your space." He said.

::::::

Rio quickly looks at the table of guys next to that one and then she looks back at him. He was serious too. That's what scared her the most.

She stiffened herself and then decided to speak out- she's not comfortable sitting next to these guys anymore. She should of went on a hunt for a different table but she doesn't want to be rude...

She clears her throat softly and found about 2% confidence: men are scared of confident girls.

"Ar-are you sure it's ok for me to sit... I mean I can fi-find another seat... If you want me to..." Her body cringes all over. That did not sound confident at all.

Rio can see his friends from the corner of her eye turn their heads one by one at her and then their face disappear in the bundle as they whisper things. She swallows and tried to focus on the guy actually causing a problem.

::::::::

He suddenly leans back and smiles.

He smiles because of her voice. Does she know she's so easy to read? The way she spoke just now- it completely sounded faked.

But why?

She lowers her stare and looks at her feet. Lost in thought maybe?

As she did that, he suddenly recognized that movement.

She raises her head again, "I'm sorry to have bothered you... I should get goi-"

"Have we met before?" He spoke out. He needs to remember before he never sees her again. He had always had that problem of getting annoyed when one thing doesn't come to his mind the minute he thinks about it. This girl isn't really giving him enough data to come to a conclusion though.

She blinks her eyes at him and then moves her eyes back and forth on the ground twice. "I-I..."

He can tell she didn't want to seem rude about not remembering him. She closes her eyes and bows just a small bit. "I-I'm sorry... I don't remember if we ever did met each other..."

He sits back on the chair and looks her over. Just by her bowing just now he knows exactly why he remembers her but he doesn't want to tell her right off the bat. "Come here." He said.

Her eyes widened and her face suddenly was dipped in red. The people he had came in with were looking over at her blushing. He heard some un necessary comments about her dress or how he might 'just get lucky'.

He ignored them but she sure didn't.

"You're the girl I see getting something to drink here every single morning." He said.

She stares from him to the other men back and forth. She's lucky she even heard him. She didn't want to seem even more rude. Her mouth repeated what he said and she looks towards his direction. Now that she thinks about it: he looks familiar as well.

"Do... You go to school here?" Her voice came out shaky. She can't concentrate with how his friends are talking about her. She suddenly tried pulling on the dress to make it lower.

He gets to his feet and looks at his friends. Some look at him and smile stupidly trying to send a message. He places his left hand in one of his pockets and sets his right hand on the shoulder of one group member. He suddenly shoves him and he falls down with a loud thud. Rio gasped, thinking he might of gotten hurt.

You would of thought that his friend would of yelled 'what the hell, man!' But instead they started to laugh and point towards the fallen member.

"You got your ass handed to ya!"

"Izaya do it to this guy next!"

Rio looks at the guys. 'Izaya'...?

He walks over to her and takes her by the arm.

He nods over at a table on the other side of the restaurant.

"How about we talk over to that booth?"


	2. Coffee shop part 2

It truly was a long time since I've posted but I'm still fighting to keep things updated! My writing block always stays near me when I have free time so I try making events happen as they go. I'm hoping to at least get some more stuff done ^^

remember to ask for more if you really liked the prompt! :)

-EmilyArtStudios

* * *

Rio starts to regret her decision on even talking to this guy in the first place. She thought she was going to go in the coffee shop, do her work, and get out in a hurry... So far it doesn't look that way.

Rio can still hear some laughter and it makes her wonder if they really did turn their attention on their fallen companion. If she wasn't mistaken: she might of seen at least one of the group members stare at them as the guy by the name of Izaya dragged along Rio to the booth he pointed to not too long ago. She tries to ignore it and keeps walking alongside him. She needs to focus on her walk and the words that she will say to him, possibly a way to get out of this situation so that she can pack up and go to back to the safety of her dorm room.

She notices her legs shaking.

_I can't believe I'm doing this._

She wonders inside her head some more.

What could he possibly want from her? Why does he suddenly ask to sit on the other side of the restaurant as a form of privacy?

She felt her wrist being grabbed on to and she realizes he's pulling on her to make her walk a little more faster. A touch like that made her face burn up and her heart wasn't steady anymore- not like it was before but still...

He suddenly lets go of her and she felt herself turn back to 'normal'. She shakes off any feeling and tells herself to focus again.

He slips into the booth swiftly and with no problem, almost as if he is comfortable- comfortable with a stranger like her. Rio stops dead on her tracks and stares down at him.

He looks up at her as he rests his elbows on the table.

"I don't go to school here... I just know those guys" he nods his head towards her "and you?"

Her left arm embraces her and her right arm holds up her drink up to her lips. She doesn't say anything. She can't find the right words.

He looks her over. "You know it looks weird if you just stand there." He said with a small smile.

"Everything's weird..." She mumbles. He heard her.

Izaya nods to the seat next to him while giving out the same small smile and she shakes a bit as she gets in the booth.

She takes a deep breath in and she takes out her laptop. His end of talking stopped. She turns to him in a verge on asking a question but she realizes he's typing on his phone. She turns away. Who is he texting..?

She opens up her laptop. Waiting on him will only make her lose time more time. She speaks up- "um..." She sees his gaze stare up at her. "May I ask how you remember me...?"

He has already told her he remembers her from the mornings... Rio just wants complete detail on what he meant.

"The way you bow."

"Huh?" That answer made her head turn towards him.

"Every morning I would see you bow and apologies to the cashier when /they/ get the order wrong. These people are known for having bad hearing so-"

"Wait... You're saying you got all that just by-"

"I couldn't help but notice this." His eyes avert over to her bag that contains her assignment. He reaches for them.

Embarrassed, Rio quickly grabs onto his hand tightly to keep him from taking them out.

She realized what she has done and lets him go. "I-I'm sorry..."

He laughs a bit and says it's ok. She noticed he has changed the subject so fast just now... She better keep her eye out on that.

She takes them out and tries to not cringe at the sight of the corrections. She sighs and puts the papers close to her chest. She turns to look at him and holds out her hand. The least she can do now is either A) introduce herself. B) make _him_ introduce himself. And C) try to change the subject at the matter at hand.

She forces her smile "My name is Rio Kamichika. I'm a freshmen at collage and so far my first two weeks here weren't so great..."

He gives her another one of those winning smiles and lifts his hand up to shake hers. "Izaya. Nice to meet you Kamichika." He looks back down at the papers and lets her hand go. "Is that the first draft?" He asks.

Rio stares off and then lowers her hand slowly while she made a face. That was such a half-assed introduction!

She places the papers on the table and looks away. She tries playing it off like it's no big deal while trying to turn on her laptop. She realizes she hasn't answered him although he is already picking the papers up.

"Actually... It's not my first draft..." She said quietly. She hoped he didn't hear her. She really did. But he did hear. She knows he did. He's a sharp guy by the looks of it.

He waits for more but he didn't have to ask to get Rio to tell him more. "It's my third time writing this paper..." She looks over at him actually scanning to papers.

"No surprise." He mumbles.

That small comment made Rio's stare stay at his face. "What...?" She breathed out.

Did she came out as an unintelligent person to him? To his friends? To everyone on this coffee shop?

Did his words mean something as if she isn't good enough to be in the college she is right now?

She tries fidgeting with her computer's worn out frame and she begins to make herself look nervous.

She has returned that paper more than once and got the same wrong marks on it. She's clearly doing something wrong but she's probably not even smart enough to know what's wrong exactly. She tells herself that there's something... Wrong with her maybe...

She suddenly felt something warm land on her shaky hand. She looks up at the stranger who manages to make her blush every now and then.

He looks at her with a face that says 'I shouldn't of said that. I'm sorry.'

She realized she blink away small tears and she fixes herself and shakes off his touch.

"I-I'm sorry..." She said. "I'm just struggling... That's all..." She reaches for her papers back. "I guess... I kinda freaked you out there, huh?" I place the papers on the table and I try keeping my hands from trembling as I type in my password and I am logged in. I take in deep breaths and I begin to feel calmer... Maybe because since he's not saying anything back it feels like I'm having a conversation with myself without looking too crazy I guess...

"No... Actually you didn't..." She felt her muscles tense up as he spoke. She doesn't want to turn to look at him. She needs to get the ready eyes stare away and then she can stare at him all she wants. For conversational purpose of course!

She looks at her hands. She's a lot calmer now.

"You know..." He picks up the papers. "I was just thinking that this was probably meant to be."

I smile just a small bit and turn my head over at him. "How...?" I said.

He was looking back at me too and placed the papers on the table again while saying- "To help you with this."

I raise my eye brows at him. "You know how to do this kind if stuff?"

He shrugs. "I'm hoping to help you at least." He smiles at me again and I had to smile back.

Help someone like me...?

Why would he go out of his way... To help a girl like me...?

I eye at him as he takes his phone out and says "think about it."

He's a strange one...

:::::Izaya:::::

The person Izaya has been talking to logs off and he sits there looking down at his phone. It's easier to look for these type of people now a days. The vulnerable ones.

He averts his eyes only to look at the girl who sits next to him.

She has shown her vulnerability the moment he saw her apologies to now where she almost cried from a small comment he made. Why does she over think things too much? Maybe that's what makes things easier.

He smiles to himself. It really was meant to be.


	3. Time For Survival part 1

It was bound to happen with me as a writer. The dead take over and I provided some rizaya to go along with it! Coffee shop has ended and now we move on to the next prompt!

Let me know Privately or in the reviews if you want any of these to continue separately thank you for reading ^^

reviews make me want to write in a flash *Q* the feeling of people liking it is pretty amazing...

* * *

_**story:**_

_They're after me._

She thinks too much for her own good. Thinking won't solve anything if she just decides to waste it on how sorry she is for herself. She takes a turn while she continues to run. She can't remember the last time she ran this fast- I guess it's because this time it's to save her own life.

She hears the growl. She turns- why did she turn? The flesh eating monster stands in front of her. It's not still. It's ready to eat... Most specifically, her. It opens its mouth wide and begins to move its way towards her. She cries out loud but she knows no one can hear her. Not out here in this abandoned place.

She knows what happens next. She's seen it happen. It will dig its rotten teeth on her soft skin and pull out every vain every muscle out of her and maybe eat her up or leave her... To turn into one of them.

Only... That didn't happen.

The monster gets hit on the back- it was effective enough to make it stop too. She felt some of its blood fall on her face but nothing to make her look away. The monster goes limp and is dropped on the floor by someone. That someone being a person who seemed to be looking like they have business with where she has set out to be at and that's the safe guard walls.

She realized she was spot and quickly tries to run into the trees but she is caught. His hand meets her skinny arm and he asks "are you ok?"

She's not at all but she doesn't want to answer him. She's dirty, tired, hungry, and scared. What will he do to her? He easily killed that thing... What can he do to someone as defenseless as she?

She has heard before that the living is number one top thing to worry about when it's every man for themselves.

She tries to break from his grip at the same time tries to not let any tears fall from the thought that she could of died back there. The emotion piled but she'll try her hardest not to cry.

He becomes impatient with her and grabs her wrists forcefully.

"I need you to listen." He said. She stops fighting and realizes its probably for the best- who knows maybe this was suppose to happen. Maybe she was truly not that strong enough to keep on living. "You're not bit are you?" He asks.

She looks up at him and then suddenly she hears more shooting from a distance. Probably one of his 'buddies' but what she found weird is that he cursed under his breath and told her to get down. She does what she is told and he observes the area.

The girl would of used this as a time to escape but she was too confused to fully understand the situation. She sits and he makes her duck more into the bush they hide behind... But that didn't help...

"Come on out. I heard you." The man in some odd army suit pointed the gun towards the bush she hides in and so does he. He sighs and stands up. She notices he has the same suit as the other guy does.

"Ok you got me." He said.

The other man lowered his gun and stares directly at him. "Why are you here?"

The girl backs up to hide more thoroughly and listens.

"I was just-"

"And I want the truth." He said forcefully.

The guy that had saved her life sighed and looks at the bush.

The man in the suit had a helmet on so it was impossible to see how he looked like. He was all covered in protection to keep any one of those biters from well... Biting him...

The tired girl realizes that there was a possibility that the man who had saved her just gave her up. Her heart starts to pound fast inside of her and she stood up quickly to run into the trees again. She was caught by the arm again though and she had to stand there as the man with the unknown face approached.

"Okay... Who is she? Your girlfriend?"

The girl blushed and the hero moved back to look at his 'friend'.

"No... I found her out here and I'm pretty sure she's scared! Can you take us inside like you always do...?"

The girl raises her head to look at the man in the suit. He sighs and shakes his head in a disappointed way.

"Izaya... I can't be doing this for you all the time. You hear?" He starts to walk off towards the woods from where he came. "Come on! You wouldn't want to stand around while the dead pile up do you?"

The hero, who's name was Izaya, took the girl by her shoulders. "You can walk, right? You're not bit I know that much..."

"Are you coming?!"

"Yeah! I'm coming..." Izaya looks down at the girl. "You too?" He asked. With this guy she can see his face. He has no helmet but he did have the protection needed to repel any bites. She saw the softening of his face when she was asked that question. She nods her head but what's ironic is that... She told herself never to trust someone ever again... Especially not a guy who looks the way he does...

* * *

They enter through so much tunnels that she has already lost count. There was some close calls with humans who worked around that area... That area meaning the Safe Guard Walls. The only place she has heard of that is still up and running with at least some safety from the dead... Except humans... This place is loaded with humans...

She doesn't quite understand why these two men, who are clearly soldiers, have to stay low and 'smother' her inside the walls. Could this place have been a lie and it's an actual dictatorship?

The three of them come in contact with a building and the man in full body equipment enters leaving the two of them out there hiding behind more bushes.

Is this Izaya guy a threat to here? Is that why he is hiding as well...?

Or maybe there's more to it than the girl makes it out to be... Only way to find out is to ask...

Maybe three minutes pass and a car pulls up in front of Izaya and her to get in the car. She enters carefully and they hit the road without any eyes to look their way... Then the arguing started.

"What the hell did I tell you Izaya?"

"You said that I shouldn't leave the walls."

"Exactly, and what did you do?"

"You know that I scout outside anyways-"

"Yeah. For food, supplies, not people."

"Yes I know."

The girl sits back and ducks every few minutes when a person is in the sidewalks. The place reeked of iron and oil for some reason. Everything looked somewhat polluted and... It was just not a pretty place.

The buildings had herbs, vines, moss, and other plants growing on them. It was weird to her.

"How many people did you bring from outside the walls Izaya? How many outsiders?"

"If you're asking about this month, four. Counting her that's five."

The helmet man sighs in frustration.

"You have any idea how much trouble you could be in?"

Izaya doesn't say anything. He knows what could happen. This place is safe for one thing and one thing only and that's the dead but not from the wrath of human beings. Those things are hungrier than any biters out there. Hungry to live.

Izaya knows this. He needs to get some things through but there's always a purpose to what he does. Always.

As for the girl... She tries to stay out of the conversation as much as possible. There isn't a question anymore. The question used to be-' Can I trust these people?'

Now there's nothing. You might even say that she found hope in all this. A second chance.

"You don't want me to take her back do you?"

The girl's smile fades and she looks in between the two.

"No... I wouldn't want that to happen to her..." The unknown man said. She found relief in his words. "I just want you to quit getting yourself into unnecessary messes, okay?"

There was no talk for that moment and then you hear him say. "Okay..."

The unknown man said. "You always say that you know. I just hope someone will change you for the better one day."

They pull up somewhere and she holds on... This man isn't exactly number one at driving...

They don't get out for some time. Izaya gathers some stuff from the car in silence and the girl waits for an order to know it's okay to leave the vehicle.

"Listen Izaya... I don't blame you if you do this again... Just don't think I'll have the same heart as to help you again..."

The girl looks over at Izaya who makes a small smile. "And you always say that too..." He exits the car and she hears him whistle.

"That's your cue to go." The unknown man said.

She had the tendency to want to ask his name but he made it clear he doesn't want anything to do with her. She gets out of the car and to her surprise he does too. Guess he'll be coming along...

All the girl knows is that she had to walk a bunch of stairs. There was some times where she felt herself get worried but strangely enough... She trusted them...

She found that very very odd.

They came to a room and Izaya pulls out a key and unlocks the door.

"The neighbors are always quiet around this time.." He said.

Funny... There was no one else here...

They enter and the first thing she realizes is that the windows were completely coverd with old newspapers that made the sun stay out of sight in the room but for a small amount. There was visible light but not exactly the type of place she would like to live in... Too uncomfortable for her...

"So what's the plan?" The unknown man said. He obviously doesn't have manners because even in here he doesn't take off his helmet.

The girl wonders herself off into the place looking around.

Izaya took this as a sign to explain somethings to his 'buddy'.

"Okay... I was thinking I ask her a few questions, ask her where some locations are for any food places, maybe even ask her to join in on the military along side you."

"Wait wait hold the phone here Izaya! You want a scrawny looking girl to be some sort of bounty hunter?"

"With enough-"

"With enough anything she'd be okay to walk from up here to downstairs, you saw how tired she was walking those first six steps."

Izaya lowers his eyes to look at the paper again. "Look I know it looks bad but you and I both know that there can possibly be a wipe out on these soldiers of yours. Don't forget where your guns come from."

The man took a moment and then shook his head.

Izaya nods as well and takes a hold of a shot gun from underneath his counter. "For now, she stays with me until further notice. After a week or so you decide if we either keep her with you over at the soldier side 'protecting' the walls or we send her off where the other four went. Either way it's up to her if she is willing to participate in this little game of ours."

The unknown man starts to laugh just a small bit. "And here I thought you were growing soft on me with just her. Sounds good." He collects the shot gun and reloads it quickly. "And remember... Try to focus on one task. There's no need for that saving bull crap, alright?" He turns to walk out the door and when the door shuts behind him Izaya begins to walk out of the counter.

"You still here?" He shouts out as he walks towards the fridge and pulls out some orange juice. No answer. "You heard all that didn't you? Yeah.. I would have figured... These walls are pretty paper thin." He takes a cup from the sink and pours himself some. "You want to play hide and seek?" He drinks some and he hears a door creak. He places the orange carton and the glass on the counter and waits. There was a thud. "Found you." He said. He approaches the part of the small hallway that the noise came from. He opens the small closet and looks down at her as she sits and looks at the floor from where Izaya stands.

"Amazing. Everyone who comes here wants to hide in the bathroom where the window can be opened and you decide to hide in the closet." He opens the closet door wider and backs up to rest himself on the wall. "You can tell a lot about someone by how they act you know." She stares at the floor and keeps still. "Come out." He said. "I have a few questions for you."

She looks up at him slowly and she realizes that maybe... She would of been better off by herself. She stands up and dusts herself off.

"Take your time." He said.

She keeps her head down as she walks over to the threshold of the closet. She takes a bigger step and he lightly places his hand over her shoulder. He closes the closet and to his surprise she asks a question first.

"Are you two going to kill me...?" She asked. He looks at the closed closet door and drops his stare to look at her. One had on her shoulder and another on the door. It felt like an embrace sort of. You can't just lie while doing an embrace.

"We don't have any intention on killing you." He answered. "Please sit down."

She nods and walks into the small living room.

Poor thing doesn't know the door is unlocked.


	4. Time For Survival Part 2

She sits on the couch and she can't stop moving her leg to try and calm herself down. The way she felt before of uncomfortableness was back from how untidy this place is.

The newspapers lay everywhere and other types of papers sit on the coffee table. The wallpaper on the walls can be seen as being peeled off in an eroded type of way. This place is truly a dump. This shows how unpredictable he is. He seems like a clean person.

Izaya comes out of the kitchen and gives her some ramen noodles. "All we have." He said. "Eat and answer. If you don't, expect me to collect the food and eat it in front of you."

She looks at him and she looks the other way not showing interest on the food.

"You're obviously hungry." He said. "Just enjoy yourself." He takes a clip board from the coffee table and takes a pen out from his pocket. He sits across from her and he begins to read the questions.

"Your name?"

She looks at him from head to toe. She doesn't say anything and keeps a grumpy attitude. Where did this side come from all of a sudden?

Izaya sits back and looks at the untouched noodles. "You're going to make this difficult I see..."

She sits back on her seat too. She crosses her arms and she raises her legs up on the couch. Makes her feel more welcomed.

He gives her a smile and places the clipboard on the coffee table. He sits back again and looks over at her.

"I guess you want something back from my questioning you don't you?"

The girl hesitates at first and then she nods softly.

"Al right... I guess if you're as illegal as me then I'm sure no one will believe any one of us when I tell you stuff about myself. Ask away. Each question you give me you give me an answer to these questions." He said as he points at the clipboard. "And you look like the type of girl who's got a lot in her mind."

She moves uncomfortably on the chair by the sound of his words and then finds a perfect sitting position.

What exactly did he mean by illegal as him? Is there even legal and illegal things during a time like this?

"Okay... You want to start? Because you already know one of my questions." He continues.

She was definitely hungry. It showed in her face that she probably hasn't eaten in weeks. She had light brown hair that was tied up in two twin tails and honey colored eyes. Her clothes were dirty with mud and blood. Good thing it's not her blood.

She looks like she can't really put up a fight but Izaya isn't the type of person to underestimate someone so fast.

"How come there's electricity here?"

He meets her face and starts to smile. No personal questions so far. She wants to know more about the place...

"The electricity is powered by the stream we have north from here. It only powers certain buildings and you can guess I asked my 'buddy' there to give me some of that power." Explaining was the easy part. Asking wasn't so much. What if eventually they hit some questions that he will refuse to answer?

He looks over at her as to wait for her turn.

"Rio Kamichika..." She said. It's the loudest she has spoken and he heard her voice clearly. It had a soft melody to it. "My name is Rio..."

"Nice you meet you, Rio." He said.

She slowly looks back down at the noodles.

"Can you explain to me your situation? Why are you illegal...?"

He smiles a bit and reaches for his clip board and places it next to him on the couch. "That's a question that has a long answer. Care to give me three answers of yours for this one?"

She hesitates and then she nods slowly.

He makes himself comfortable and looks at her intensely.

"If you have been paying attention you would notice how this place is run. I'm not originally from here. This place doesn't really invite people with open arms that are from a different place because they believe in something called 'bringing the disease over to us'. They think that people who aren't from here carry whatever the dead have and they are afraid it will spread in here. They believe that this place doesn't have that. That they are safe as long as they kill any person who has found out about this place, came in, or anything that can put this place at risk-"

"You keep saying they. Who's they?"

He curls his mouth into a twisted smile. "Maybe you should try and wait for your turn again." And with that he gets up from his chair and goes over to the kitchen bringing the clipboard with him.

Rio closes her parted mouth and narrows her eyes at him. He was being pretty rude but she realizes that she was being rude too.

He sighs and looks over at her as she looks back at the noodles. "Come here. Bring your food with you."

She closes her eyes and stands up picking up the food. She walks over to the counter and sits on the chair.

"I don't know personally who 'they' are either but something tells me they are pretty paranoid." He serves himself some more orange juice.

"What if someone gets caught? Sneaking in, putting things at risk?"

He looks up at her with a sort of look that told her 'what about the rules we established before hand?' But he gave in and decided to just answer. This place is her home now. She'll have to get used to the secrets this place holds.

To answer her question he lifts his hand up to his head and shapes his hand into a gun and he pretends to pull the trigger. That sends shivers down Rio's spine. She tries not to show it.

"Pretty fun place we got here, huh?"

"And how did you manage not to get caught?"

He sits down across from her and takes a drink from the orange juice. "It's sort of my thing. Not getting caught is basically a life ritual for me. I used to do it a lot back I'm the day when the world hasn't gone to sh-"

"So what you're saying is that you're basically a criminal in normal world standards?"

He looks at her in the eye. She stands still looking back at him. He leans in to be more intimidating but she doesn't move back.

"Let's face it. There was never a 'normal world standard'." He takes another drink and then silence fell.

She sees a new side of him. She has already seen probably three in counting. How many personalities can a man have?

"So what do you basically do now? I heard you scavenge around for food and supplies... But for the people who think you're a threat?"

"You do listen then." He said. He looks up at her and he catches her starring too long. She looks down at the food that she still hasn't touched besides carrying it over. "I do scavenge... And for the people that I don't even know are even there... It's to keep something there- it's a necessity for me. There has to be a reason for everything."

"And why help people out there and almost get yourself in trouble? What's the point if you're just going to throw them away in the end like a used towel?"

"That is not what I do." His voice had an edge to it but he managed to keep his mysterious act. "I help anyone who needs help out there alone, dirty, tired, you name it!" Izaya serves himself more of that orange juice and Rio listens carefully. "Humans shouldn't have to go through that..." He breaths somewhat heavier. He thinks to himself that the pain that is being inflicted on these humans he loves so much is not being caused by him but that man that he doesn't even believe himself. That's what bothers Izaya. He lets that thought go though. It's not worth much. All he knows is that he tries to at least help and get a good reaction like she did when she realized she was going to be a military dog or... Something unknown. "Besides, there's no way I'll be getting caught any time soon."

"Why is that?" She asked.

He looks over to the fridge and starts to think that he truly has been telling her everything. "You basically heard the reason. The only thing I have against 'them' is that I provide weapons for them." He turns his head quickly to her "Me. Only me. I make people-soldiers here- go get them and they bring a bunch let me tell you." He narrows his eyes staring straight into hers. He finds some fear in her eyes and that's the best part about even answering her questions. "It's either me or them."

Rio searches something just like he just did but all she sees is hunger for survival there. She wants that look into her eyes too.

"I'm 18..." She said. His face softens and she goes for the clipboard. "I... Sort of read the next question when you were talking and serving yourself some juice..." She points to the name label. "That's not my name, did you even listen to a word I said?" She lifts some papers up and reads quickly. "There's a lot of questions too! A lot of personal ones..."

He takes the clip board and flips it downwards.

"Listen " He started. "I can see how you really don't trust me. I'm not exactly number one trustworthy man in Japan but you need to understand the purpose for everything I throw at you."

She stares blankly at him and then nods at the board. "Why are you writing fake information about me." She said. She notices there were two. One document with fake info and another with the real.

"This one will be turned into the state." He takes the first sheets and places them on the table. Fake name and everything. "And this one... Will be mine... Just in case..."

She makes a tight face of regret and then soothes her body by spinning once on the chair she is sitting on.

"So does that mean you have information about the other people you betrayed?"

"Are we really going to call them that?" He asked.

"What else can I call them? People you saved but then decided that they were useless? That seems a lot longer though..."

"Okay... I've been patient with you... And I'm not really the type of person to give people time to reflect so how about you sit still, eat your ramen noodles, and answer more of my questions?"

She has her back turned to him and then she spins her chair to look at him. "I'm answering... But I'm not going to do the examination that you have planned for me. I'm not bit. I'm not scratched. I'm clean."

It took him a while but he nodded... And then he said "I know..."

She felt herself grow softer from the sound of his calmed down voice and the picks up the ramen cup and starts eating.


	5. Time For Survival part 3

Each question came with a story that Rio was practically forced to tell him. Why has he taken an interest?

When it comes to it, he would ask how she felt of the situation she was in during the story. It made her confused but she went with it because she saw how interested he was and all Rio ever wanted was someone being interested not only on her but what she has done over her time of living.

Talking to him made her grow a sort of bond that she was scared she would get. She always gets attached... She finds a way to push them away at times... And then they're gone for real...

She was thinking all this when he asked her how she ended up alone in the woods. She said she didn't want to talk about it after he got maybe two details out of her. But that was it... Now they sit there in the kitchen counter in silence...

Her noodles are all gone and she was so great full for eating something good again.

She looked down at her hands. They've killed living and dead. Not so much as you would think though... She really can't fight well but if it's an ambush she would be ready. She stands up and looks at the floor. She was dizzy for a moment there.

"You ok?"

She turns to look at Izaya who was staring up at her.

"I'm... I'm fine.."

"That's good. That means you can take care of yourself while I'm away, right?"

She makes a confused face and walks up to the counter without sitting down. "You're leaving me? Here? Alone?"

He nods and she basically wanted to pull a tantrum. What if something goes wrong and someone sees her and they report her? Or... does it even work that way?

"I'll be gone for a few minutes. I need to go to those abandoned stores to get supplies for the apartment. I've been running low on shampoo."

She opens her eyes wide. "Y-you... Have a shower here...?"

He nods yet again. Her heart starts to feel like a string being plucked at a certain rhythm. A working shower?

"A-am I allowed to..."

"Well actually I was just about to tell you to take one while I'm gone... Too bad you don't have change of clothes though..."

She eyes him carefully. "You were going to go to the store for clothes too aren't you?"

"Still am. I guess it'll be my pick since you won't be coming with me. Not like I would want you to go. You'll slow me down and honestly you would be spot as an illegal more easily than me." She listens to his words and she slowly agrees by nodding her head. "Do I trust you to still be here when I come back regardless of how you know how dangerous it is out there and how much of a douche I seem to you?"

She smiles at that and nods her head. "I'll show you I can become one of those military dogs too." She said jokingly.

He nods as he smiles and he goes for the door. She hears the door shut and she makes her way to the end of the hallway. She tries opening all the doors. There were about three rooms here. Two that can't be open and one that is the bathroom. He really is smart.

* * *

He goes down the stairs and looks around constantly.

He knew she would try to look for the files of the other people he had saved so when he asked for a bathroom break he went ahead and locked his room and his office. Better to keep her curiosity get the better of her. He's hoping for her to either crack or find a smart way in... Or maybe not care and take her shower like she's suppose to...

He gets out of the building and begins to walk down the street opposite from where they came from by car. No one comes through this place because there have been rumors of dead walking around. Izaya knows that's not true but things can change over time. He's always cautious when entering places like this.

He stands before a big wreckage. The building was old and looked like it fell from organisms eating away at the iron that was places for the sole purpose of holding its pride up. Now it's just a mess.

The dusk sky made him wonder if he'll be out here too long. He takes out his back pack and starts to walk deeper into the unknown.

* * *

Rio takes some eating utensils and goes over to the doors. She tries opening them with those items but they wouldn't budge.

She stands up and walks into the kitchen and realizes she left the utensils back in front of the door she was trying to open. She sighs and walks over to the fridge and opens it up. She took some orange juice and pours the last bit in a cup. She has to find ways where she can exit here when she knows her time being the favorite of the four is up.

She sees the windows blocked by the newspapers again and she is driven to peek outside.

She walks over to one window and looks out peeling away a corner of the paper. Nothing but a dusk sky... Why cover a view like this? It's not like he's completely labeled as an 'illegal'.

She'll never understand anything thinking this way.

She sighs and steps away from the window to make her way into the bathroom.

* * *

Izaya walks some more around the area and always has his backpack out to collect what he wants fast. He has already found three items for the girl... Just a few more will do...

All he sees are collapsed buildings and he's tired of seeing those. He stops to check on the shampoo he found at the last stop he took and he hears a growl. He turns around and is attacked by a biter. He dodges its attack and steps back to take it down. The biter struggles under Izaya as he pushes its face down to the dirty floor and he pulls its arms at its back. He sees it has no teeth.

"Well... You must be one of those that someone smuggles in here..." He takes out his small hand gun with the hand he used to push its face to the floor and holds it up to its head. Izaya looks at how calm it's become and he puts his gun away slowly.

"I have other plans for you..." He said.

* * *

She sits on the bathroom floor still debating to take a shower now or wait for him. Rio guessed the best thing was to take one while he's gone but she somehow never gets around that part...

She hears a loud thud and then hears the main door open forcefully.

"Step one of being a military dog: defense!"

Rio jumped at Izaya's loud voice. Was he crazy? People would start to wonder if someone actually lives in this building.

She makes her way out of the bathroom to see what he means and she stands still at the sight of a dead walking corpse in the living room with no arms... And with no Izaya in sight...

She begins to back away but her legs gets caught on a plug and she drops a lamp.

It spots her in a flash and she runs to get to the bathroom but it was faster.

It comes for her and she falls as the thing slams it's body onto her. she quickly scatters to reach for the food utensils she left on the floor and as soon as she got a hold on a butter knife she impaled its eye going deeper and killing the brain like she was always told to go for before.

She feels the blood drip on her already blood stained sleeves and she doesn't notice the teeth were absent.

She pants away her heart attack as it lays on her. She stares up at the ceiling trying to process what happened. Her face showed how hurt she was inside and she stood up with half raged tears.

She walks with a somewhat bruised ankle towards the main door. She opens the door and Izaya sits on the floor. He looks up at her. He stands up quickly and smiles real big. "Woah you actually did it!" He walks inside passing her and looks down at the corpse. "Way to go..."

He turns to look at her with a smile still on his face. Like he's proud of her and is praising her for killing it... But she doesn't see it that way in the moment.

What she knows is that he just tried to kill her...

"Wh-why... Did you do tha-"

"Okay I know you're probably angry but-" he goes over to the corpse and picks it up to make it sit. He kneels down next to it opening its mouth. "Look, no teeth. Completely biter free. On my hand you were definitely not going to turn into one of these."

She just noticed she was still shaking. She looks down at him in disgust and bewilderment.

"Please don't do that again..." She whispers with a small anger in between.

Izaya's smile slowly falters and he stands up to stare her down. "This is the only way I can see how strong you are. You showed me you're somewhat useful."

He said it so bitterly that it left a bitter taste in _her_ mouth.

She wipes away any tears and she walks past him. Her bond with him just became the biggest abyss in this planet. He's a psychopath! He actually looked like he enjoyed it! She could of died if he didn't thought of making the biter vulnerable. What the hell was he thinking?!

She walks into the bathroom without locking the door. She becomes sick to her stomach and she runs over to the toilet just in case she has to let anything out.

She hears footsteps and he appears with the backpack he took with him. He pulls out some clothing and places them at the threshold of the door. She stares up at him with resentment in her eyes. Not strong enough to make him look away since she knows he has some explaining to do. She wants a better explanation.

He places the shampoo bottle on the clothes as well and stands up straight and walks over to the dead body to drag it outside...

* * *

Rio sits on the couch wet from the shower and feeling a lot better. A shower made her feel like maybe forgiving him wouldn't be such a bad idea but she knows she shouldn't get attached.

Just have to wait for him to come back... He must be out there looking for more things or he's actually a human being and reflecting on what he did. Either way Rio will forgive him.

Ten maybe five minutes later he walks through the door and sees her fast asleep on the couch.

He places his coat on the couch and walks over to his refrigerator. He takes out the empty carton of orange juice and walks over to the counter. He holds the carton as he looks over at her.

It was beginning to become dark outside. He's going to have to run for more in the morning.

"Hey..." He said.

She doesn't wake up. He walks over to her and kneels down to shake her. To his surprise that didn't work. How did she manage to sleep and wake up when it was a pretty bad time to be sleeping?

He stands up straight and kicks her lightly on her foot. She suddenly let out a painful scream and holds her legs up to her.

He tries not to think too much on that and begins to talk "So you drank all my juice..."

She looks up at him and then looks down "oh right. Sorry about that."

He sighs and sits down next to her. "You ok?"

She knocks the carton off his hand without warning and looks at him in the eye "No I'm not ok! When you pulled that stunt on me I broke my ankle!" She held back any feelings that she maybe shouldn't of yelled at him but she was told before that men don't listen when you say things calmly sometimes. She pulls down her sock and sees it has become swollen.

He stands up and Rio watches him cautiously. "Where are you going?" She said. Her voice cracked and she tried keeping a straight face.

He turns his head but doesn't look at her "I have a fist aid kit here somewhere." He walks over to the kitchen and she begins to take her shoes off. She spent almost a long time scrubbing away the muck that stuck at her worn out shoes. It was worth it though.

He comes back and places the kit on the table.

"Where were you...?" She asked in a hushed tone.

He takes out the things he needed and places them on the table next to her shoe. "I was out." He said. He reaches for her left leg and places it on his right leg. Izaya slowly starts to wrap the injured part up in gauze. He became too comfortable... He didn't ask if he can touch her.

"You know what I mean." She said.

He looks up at her and then looks down at his work. "It's not important."

She feels herself become sad from the lack of trust. She met him just today but this reminds her of her past teams she has been with. Probably four teams in total. Some died out... Some left her...

Nothing good lasts long...

She touches the sleeve of his arm that holds her leg in place. There was a small flinch from his palms. "Please don't leave me alone in here again..." She said.

He slowly looks back at her. She means that she doesn't want him to do anything else like what he did to her earlier. Keep your friends close... and your enemies closer.

He smirks at her request and averts his eyes. He finishes up the wrapping.

"You're a smart person." He said. "And by the looks of it you're fast. Fast beats strength most of the time."

Neither one of them noticed she was still holding on until he reached for the scissors with his right and the sleeve pulled his hand back.

"Oh..! I... I'm sorry..." She blushes as she lets him go. she looks up at his face. He stares at her for quite sometime but then looks away and takes the scissors from the table.

"I'm sure you'll make a great soldier when time gives you all the training you need."

And that was all he said before leaving her on the sofa for a couple more minutes. He was in the kitchen making more noodles... She stares off into space trying to remember when was the last time she has felt so at home. There was no sound but the heating of the microwave and for once in a long time Rio actually felt like she was not going to get bit in her sleep.

"He didn't have teeth..." She said. Izaya steps back from the microwave and stares over at her. "Or arms..." She continued.

Izaya stops the microwave and takes out the noodles. He walks over to the other cup he was already eating and walks over to her.

"There's a logical explanation for that." He said as he hands over the food. She says thank you and he walks over to the other sofa across from her.

"Did its teeth rot away? That means one day humans can take over the earth again, right?"

He narrows his eyes at her with noodles hanging at his fork. He eats some as he tries to find ways to explain to her in a way were he won't be all over the place.

"Okay... " he breaths out. He holds up five fingers. "How long did the outbreak lasted?"

She blushes knowing she probably made a mistake or said something stupid. "Five years..."

He nods "That's right." He puts his hand down and looks at her. "It would take a long time for teeth to erode or start to fall out. Five years is still too early." He eats another noodle.

"Okay then... Care to answer my question?"

He nods and sits back on his seat. "Smugglers." He said.

"Smugglers...?"

"Yeah. People like me bring things in here as well... Sometimes they smuggle in dead."

Rio's eyes widen and she suddenly didn't feel safe. "Wh-what do you mean...? Why would they do that...?"

He smiles widely and stirs his food. "You really need to get with the program..." He said. "People do this for multiple reasons. There are some who have this religious thing going on and they want to see if they can come back as human again. There are also rumors that they come from 'them', the ones we talked about earlier. Let's just call them the government for now." He sips from the cup and she still has not touched her food.

"But... The dead are all... Dead... How can someone bring back someone to life?"

Izaya doesn't hesitate to shrug "ask them not me." She presses her lips together and stares down at her soup. "Oh right!" Izaya said in between swallows. "There's also people who try to save a family member or a special friend who has turned. They take their teeth- sometimes their arms even- and keep them someplace."

"Oh my... That's awful..." She was beginning to feel less and less hungry from his story telling. "The only way for them to not suffer is to at least kill them, right?"

"Some people just can't let go, Rio..." She lowers her eyes again. She immediately does that when someone says her name. "And... Let's not forget the wonderful terrorist who probably heard about the place and decided to make it corrupt by releasing biters to the city." She shakes her head at his words. Who does that? He looks at her and places his half empty cup on the coffee table. "May I go on?"

She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "No... Thank you for... Letting me know..."

He gives her a half smile "anytime."

The noodles are done by the time it becomes really dark outside. She lays on the sofa and closes her eyes.

"You're sleeping out here?"

She opens them and looks up at him. "I don't mean to intrude..." She said. "Your bed is yours... And I can take the couch..."

He digs his hands into his pockets. "How's your ankle?" He asks.

"Still hurting but... I'll make it." She says.

He walks towards the other end of the sofa where her head lies and she quickly sits up. Her untrustworthiness is showing and she knows it.

"I'll get better sleep... If you sleep in a better environment..." He said.

She felt her body shake and she slowly nods at his request. Is this his way on apologizing? Maybe... But Rio doesn't go for that option...

He helps her get to his room and she sits down on the bed.

"Keep this door open. If you need anything just yell. I'm sure you probably found out by now that I live completely alone- as in: no neighbors at all."

Yes she has found that out. It took her while but she knows now.

"How come...?" She said.

He sighs and smiles at her. "You really have a lot of questions..."

"And you really have a lot of secrets..." She said. He basically knows a lot about her by now. And it was all because of his observation skills.

"I'm an illegal. That's one thing." She nods. "People are afraid of this part of the city because there have been rumors going around that there was some biter activity around here... I guess it's true since I found our earlier friend out there by itself..." Earlier friend, huh? "And last but not least... I'd rather be alone."

Rio looks up at him. "That last one is half true..." She said.

He smiles at her. It was the type of smile that means 'and what do you know?' But that's how Rio always thinks when it's against her. Negative and nothing but negative.

"I'm serious..." She said. "A-and if you open up more... I'm sure people can see the real you..."

He stops leaning against the door and stands up straight. "The real me... Is someone you wouldn't want to meet. And you know that." He steps back and watches as she continues to look at him. "Goodnight." He said and begins to walk.

Rio looks over at her lamp and turns it off. She carefully tries to drape the covers over herself.

He was right... She doesn't want to meet the real him...

The wounds of someone forcing the arms off the biter were fresh.


	6. Time For Survival Part 4

A noise had happened and Rio couldn't go back to sleep.

The young girl lays awake looking at the ceiling with a somewhat terrified look on her face...she waits but nothing happens.

She's convince that she is now paranoid. Will there be an invasion all of a sudden? Seems like the type of place that an invasion can happen really... Not to mention maybe the dead can come in with ease.

She storms herself in these terrible images and a much worse thing came to her mind. If things do go down, she wouldn't be able to save herself. Her ankle is useless right now.

There was silence for a few more minutes and then she hears a noise again.

She asks herself what time it is. Wasn't she just talking to Izaya not too long ago?

She sits up and looks around the room. It's small in there but not that cramped. Like anywhere in this building, the windows were covered with old newspapers. The door to her right was all the way open... Izaya said that if she's in need of something then she can scream out for him... Guess it fits the atmosphere.

She stands up carefully. As she stands, she hears another noise coming from the kitchen. She walks over to the the door and looks out. The light to the living room is on. She goes down the hall limping.

Rio reaches the threshold of the living room and looks over at the kitchen.

"What are you doing up?" Izaya says as he reaches into a box on the counter.

He startled her but she tries her best to answer. "I... I couldn't sleep..."

He places one of the items on the counter. She now sees that it's a canned food... Where did he get that?

"Are you sure I didn't just wake you? You've been out for three hours."

That long..? Has she really?

"I'm sure..." She lies.

He takes two canned goods and walks over to the cabinet he had opened.

She cautiously walks over to the counter. She peeks inside the box he has out.

Yup... There's food in here... "Where did you get all this?" She asks.

He doesn't answer her until he comes over to the box. "It's not important. I just happen to know how to get this stuff." He shrugged her off again... "How's your ankle?" He continues.

She taps it on an iron bar from her chair softly and she didn't quite feel pain much. "It's doing okay..." She says.

"Which is why you need some sleep." He tells her. "It was doing so good too."

"Let me help you." she insists.

He gives her a 'did you not just hear me?' Look and she begins to take out the cans from inside the box.

"I just want to make myself useful..." She told him.

"Yeah well if it gets worse, then what?"

She looks up at him and he ignores her stare. She never knows when he's being distant and when he's just trying to do things for her own good. She collects herself for the stool and limps over to the sofa.

He shakes his head and continues to work.

"Do you ever sleep?" She asks him.

He takes a glimpse at her and sort of smiles. "When I want to."

"Why is that?" She asks.

"Because I'm not exactly on a vacation here. I need to do my job in order to even play along with the people here. Cutting out some sleep is part of my sacrifice to keep myself alive."

She didn't ask anymore questions. He looks up at her as he places the last cans on the shelf and sees she had fallen asleep. Great. Now where is _he_ going to sleep?

::::::::

Morning rises up in the horizon. Rio slowly opens her eyes. She's back on the bed tucked in nicely.

She quickly sits up straight and looks at her ankle. He even replaced the bandages...

The frail girl stands up and carefully puts her injured foot down and walks to the door. She doesn't hear anything... That's what bothers her.

"I-Izaya...?" She calls out. No answer.

She walks to the living room. Empty.

Where could he be?

:::::::::

"Oi Izaya, come here." The man from yesterday moves away from the other soldiers.

"What is it?" Izaya asks as he too moves away from other soldiers. He was there to receive more items aside from the cans he was putting away last night. He gives them equipment and they give him what he needs. It's simple.

"How's that girl you saved? Is she eating alright?"

Izaya makes a small smile thinking to himself 'I thought you didn't want any part of her.' but at the same time was still surprised he asked.

He moves back to try and make their voices more hushed. "She uh... She broke her ankle..." Izaya admitted.

The man doesn't respond for sometime and then he says "Does that mean you're going to... You know.."

"No. I'm not going to give up on her that easily. She's a good fighter. All she needs is some time." Izaya really did believe this. There was one thing being in denial and another on being right. It's either you're being realistic or not and Izaya is always being realistic.

They both suddenly hear loud thunder in the distance.

"Better get to her. She's probably under a table right now scared out of her mind."

"She's probably used to it. It always rains here." Izaya responded.

"It sure does." He said.

When the man walks away without saying goodbye, Izaya begins to slip his way out of that place. More thunder roared. He makes a quick turn down the gate and enters the street to go back home.

:::::::

Another thunder booms in the distance and Rio finds herself looking at the window wanting to draw back all the newspapers. Instead she stands up and reads what kind of articles are present. She hears more thunder followed by the ever longing sound of rain falling on the glass. Perfect. This is the kind of sound she has been wanting to hear again considering she hasn't been under a roof for a while.

More thunder and it resonates together with a loud knock at the door. That scares her and she stands straight starring cautiously at the door. She has her hands up to her chin and she shakes a little.

Another knock and the door opens slowly. She starts to call herself an idiot, why didn't she hide?

Izaya enters and her body relaxes.

He looks up at her and smirks. "Why so tense?"

"You scared me..." She places her hand over her heart.

"You thought I was some scary man that saw you from the window? Yeah, I saw you. Now stay away from that window."

She looks over at the papers and then steps away.

"Remind me to put more papers over that." He takes his coat off and places it on the sofa. "You hungry? I have sliced peaches in a can. Doesn't that sound appetizing?" He said.

Rio stares intently at the window still and sits down without answering him.

"Why do you block the windows..?" She asked. Although she might already know the answer she just wants to make sure.

He opens the can and places a fork inside. "Is it your hobby being asked a question and then ignoring it?" She gives him a serious face and he looks down at his peaches. "It's better in a dark room. It's better if everyone thinks this apartment building is not taken."

"Is that why all the other windows in this building are also covered in newspaper?" She asked.

He lifts a peach up to his face and asks "you've been outside?"

She nods. "My first day here..."

So she hasn't left. That's good.

He chews on a peach and she looks out the window again.

"You like the rain?" He asks.

"Sometimes it can be bothersome.." She turns her head back to him. " Like trying to get a good night sleep in the forest...but... I don't think that will be a problem anymore..."

He sees where the conversation is going and he tries to change the subject. The conversation he had with his somewhat friend from yesterday made him want to tell her what happened to the other four people but now he sees that would be a terrible idea.

"How is your fighting experience?" He asks as he makes his way towards her area.

"My... Fighting experience was like everyone else's... Unexpected and very unorganized." She laughs quietly and watched as he sits down on the window sill. He pushes back the newspaper and the rain is seen for miles. She slowly stands up and he looks over at her.

"It's alright." He said.

She smiles as she walks over to join him. He chews on another peach and she places her hand on the glass. The town looks like a real life horror movie but the sound makes it calming. She doesn't see people but she does see buildings.

"I guess everyone went home when they saw the clouds..." Izaya said and eats another peach.

"You think they know they're safe here?" She asks.

He doesn't give an answer until she looks at him.

"I think anyone would be brainwashed knowing they're in these walls. Some people would like to know they're safe so they hide in this image that people really do have a heart."

"So... You're saying they're-"

"They're in denial. Some day they'll see it." He takes another peach and bites half of it.

Rio slowly looks back outside where the rain still doesn't stop. She wonders if it's alright for him to talk to her about this stuff out in the open.

"How did you find your way here?" She asks.

"It's not important."

Her chest tightens and she looks at him. Why is he so distant? Rio has never met someone of his character before.

"Please tell me.." She said.

He has been picking at his food for quite some time now. All he can do is ask her, "why do you want to know so much?"

She shifts her legs towards his body. "I took a small interest in you." She said. The rain makes her heart beat steady.

He finishes up the peach he had and places the can between them. "Don't say things like that." He said and pushes the peach can gently towards her. "You want some?"

She takes the can and looks inside as she says "But I really did meant it... "

He sits back on the glass and narrows his eyes at her.

"One day we'll be so close that... You'll even take a small interest in me." She says.

He smiles "oh yeah? And what makes you say that?"

"For example..." She says. "We're sharing the same fork at the moment." She takes a big bite of the peach she had stabbed.

He was going to say 'that doesn't mean anything' but then he found himself amused by her words. She really does have a small soft voice but even those can tell some truth. She's the type to dream.

He leans away from the window and places his left hand on the window sill. She looks up at him as he reaches towards her face and she closes her eyes tightly.

Right then and there, someone knocks on the door.

* * *

Hey guys!

The drag on the stories I know I'm sorry ;o; but I'll get to them! I'm currently already writing for WDSTSL so don't worry about that :) there will be more for this one since I got ideas :D thank you for reading and being patient ;w;


	7. Time For Suvival part 5

After a second knock, Izaya looks at Rio and quietly tells her to cover the window. She does. Izaya stands up and walks towards the door. She's amazed at how calm and collective he is about this. The person behind that door could be a friend or an enemy. He swings the door open and Rio hears a loud familiar voice as she makes her way to the kitchen counter.

"Izaya, the men told me you forgot this."

Rio couldn't quite see who was behind the door yet but she already has an idea who. It's the soldier from yesterday.

Izaya takes whatever the man was holding out to him and he invites him in.

"Why didn't you warn me it was you?" Izaya asked sort of annoyed. "We have a system here." Izaya walks over to where Rio is and she sees that the thing the soldier came to drop off is a brown paper bag.

"I wanted to scare you two. Builds character." The man said.

Rio still didn't know his name for he had said earlier that he doesn't want any part of what Izaya does. She sits down not wanting to enter their conversation.

"Did you find out if you're going on a mission?" Izaya asks him.

"Believe it or not, yeah. I have to hunt around in this terrible weather, can you believe that?" The man stands by the door still.

Izaya wants to tell him to sit down but the man needs to be somewhere.

"Stay alive out there." Izaya told him.

"Will do..." He replies. He wasn't wearing his mask back when Izaya was talking to him earlier in the day but now he is. Izaya thought it was because of the girl.

He was going to exit when he turned back towards the two of them and said "you're not coming with?"

Izaya shakes his head "not today."

He nods and turns to leave but then he turns back to Izaya. "This is just a suggestion... But maybe you should tell Shinra to look after that." He said not really pointing to Rio's ankle but insinuating perfectly that it's about her.

Izaya looks over at him and stays silent for a while. "I don't really want to get him involved in this." Izaya finally answers.

The man steps more out of sight behind the door and shrugs "Do what you think is best." And he leaves.

Rio and Izaya sit in silence. She listens to the rain outside to keep herself busy. He takes the bag and walks around the table towards the cabinets.

"What's in it?" She asks.

"Some supplies. Medicine." He answers. She's surprised at how relived he sounded that she didn't ask about Shinra.

"For my ankle?" She continues. She decides it's best not to push things. Though she really wants to ask.

"No. Why? Does it still hurt?"

"Sort of..."

"Go to bed and let's see how you turn up later."

Rio didn't want to go to bed but she knows he's right on this one. She stands up and walks to the hallway. She looks back at him and he pays no attention to her. She sighs heavily and makes her way to the bedroom.

Izaya stores the medicine in a cabinet that is not quite easy to find in the apartment. This was not to keep it away from Rio but from anyone who sneaks their way in the apartment somehow.

He stands up and walks towards the refrigerator that he had filled with new products. He takes out some orange juice and two cups filling them both full. He makes his way to the room.

He enters and she sits on the bed starring over at the end of the mattress.

Taking a sip from his juice, he walks towards her to hand her a glass. She looks up and thanks him.

"No problem." He said quietly and lifts the cup up to his mouth again. It's the second day with her... Izaya finds it hard trying to see how everything is going to play out.

For a long time they both don't exchange words. She takes in the flavor of the juice and so does he. The thunder outside makes it less awkward for them both but it also takes Rio to different places. It was more comfortable than awkward.

"You may sit by the way." She tells him.

He gazes at her and then walks to the edge of the bed. He sits himself down and looks at her ankle.

"I'm feeling better." She says. She didn't want to tell him 'don't worry' because she feels he isn't worrying... Although it seems like he is at times...

He looks down at his drink.

He's not exactly guilty for hurting her, but he knows when something becomes serious. Especially when it interrupts the main plan.

"So... How many days do I have to live?" She asks.

He swallows the juice and looks over at her, "excuse me?"

"Since I'm useless, why not just get it over with. You let go of those others without a second thought or..?"

He narrows his eyes at her but she was serious.

"Did they mean anything to you?" She continues.

He gives her a fake half smile and stands up. He starts to walk out when he turns back to her and says, "Sometimes you have to know when it's time to stop asking questions. Now is a good time." He doesn't let her respond. He leaves and doesn't bother to say good night.

The injured girl sits there wondering if she had hurt his feelings in some way... Maybe the other people _did_ mean something to him. Maybe he had a family member there at some point. Maybe he had a terrible childhood. Or maybe he lost the woman he loved...

Rio presses her lips together and dismisses the thoughts. Everyone right now is hurting. Everyone right now lost someone in some way.

She can't help but feel bad for him. This sort of thing has taken almost all her self pity away... And Izaya might not like the pity... It's actually helping her cope in some way.

She bends over to touch her ankle lightly. It'll be better... But there's no telling that she'll be the only one around... Or if she'll even be around...

She sighs and gets to bed. She pulls the covers over her and looks out at the hallway where he had left saying those cold things to her.

The light was still on... And she'll have to get used to the noise he makes when he's in the kitchen. At least the rain is still smooth sounding.

:::::

There was nothing but silence for too long. She gets up from the bed. The girl looks over at the windows and still sees rain pouring. She came to the conclusion that she can't keep still. She needs to do something now or then she'll regret it.

She walks to the hallway and looks ahead. No light. Quietness. It's almost surreal to her knowing he barely sleeps at all.

She works up the nerve to approach the living room. On her way over there, Rio starts to think heavily on the idea of needing Izaya at all. If she's a danger and can still stay here in this crazy army place then why not send her off with supplies and food to last a week until she can find a new group to hunt with? She stops in her steps. She doesn't want that. This would mean she'd be afraid every night again. This would mean she'd be like an animal again.

She looks around the dark living room. He's nowhere. Did he leave again? If anything, he's the one who can't keep still.

She breathes in and walks to the refrigerator when she hears a soft sigh. She spins herself around to see nothing. Another small sigh. She walks towards the sofa. Izaya lays there wrapped in a blanket. He's asleep. Or at least it seems like it..

The frail girl looks back up at the small kitchen. She wonders if there's still some sliced peaches in the cabinets.

"You're still awake?" She jumps and looks to see Izaya sitting with an annoyed expression on his face.

He places his hand over his eyes and Rio says, "I-I was hungry..."

He nods and stands up tiredly. "Okay. Let's just take a breather." She wonders what he meant by that and he passes her as he makes his way to the kitchen. "The food similar to what I shared with you earlier is right in here. Don't make too much noise. I'm a light sleeper."

She nods softly and he takes out a can. Just from a simple item, she remembers what she told him when they were staring off into the eroded city.

'I took a small interest in you.'

Rio turns away slyly from his direction, embarrassed, which made Izaya glance up at her for a second but then he continues to try and open the can. The whole 'small interest' confession has been stuck on Izaya from the moment she left the room to fall asleep for a couple of measly hours. He's been trying not to take it the wrong way. It's been hard to think of what else she could of meant.

Rio for sure knows that it was just something she wanted to say in order to let him know that she will be studying him as much as he's studying her. The plan she had thought of in the beginning will take action; if she believes her life is in danger in his hands... Then she'll need to escape somehow... It's something she still doesn't want to do... But in order to protect herself she must make tough decisions.

"Here." Izaya hands her the can. She wakes up from her sudden thoughts and says thank you. She reaches for the can of fruit and feels her finger tips brush on the back of his hand. He doesn't pull away for that minute... At least not right away. Rio takes the can with a stronger grip and she looks up at him. "Did you take a shower?" She asks.

Izaya's eyes widen from her sudden outburst. He turns away from her and says, "Yeah.."

"Ah... I see..." She takes a bite off a peach and Izaya sits himself comfortably on the sofa.

Again... He can't help but linger into her comments and how odd they seem to him. It's as if she says them just to mess with him but she's honestly just asking... At Least that's what Izaya came to a conclusion. He also can't help but think about how she smelled his scent for that moment. He shapes his hand into a fist and tries to avoid even a small eye contact with her.

"Oh..." Her voice echoed around him making him turn slightly to her. "I'm sorry." She says.

Izaya finally lifts up his head and she backs away from him slowly ready to go back to the room.

"Sorry for what?" He asks.

She stops and finishes up the peach she put into her mouth. "I'm sorry for always asking you about the four and assuming too much about you like I know you..." She pokes the peaches one by one. "It wasn't fair..."

Izaya looks down at the worn out coffee table. He hesitates on accepting her apology... But in the end he just nods and she smiles. She hopes that much brings them closer in order for her to stay in the safe environment. She really doesn't want to leave... She likes it here and she will do her best to stay alive.

"See you in the morning.." She whispers and carefully walks to the hall.

Izaya looks back as she leaves the room. She eventually disappears behind the wall. She left him thinking so much that he later became too tired to pick at her words any longer and he falls asleep to the sound of the rain.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone! I have been extremely busy with so many things and to top it off, I had writers block everytime I tried continuing this story (that I'm so proud of?) and WDSTSL ;;;; I want to continue WDSTSL and this one with more little AUS and writing prompts hopefully once I get ideas going;; I've been drawing too much lately ;7;


	8. Time for survival Part 6

::::::::

The next morning he knows he woke up first. She would probably be in the kitchen trying to find some more food if _she_ had woken up first. She's not though.

He slowly gets up from the sofa and walks to the fridge. The world seems quieter to Izaya in the morning. It makes him feel like the world really did end.

He decides to ask Rio if she would like to do a small favor for him. He turns around ,while closing the fridge, and walks to the hallway. He enters his room and sees her tucked in the covers sound asleep. Izaya pauses. He's not sure if he should let the injured girl rest. Perhaps it would be wise to let her be...

He sighs and looks over at her for just a moment. He notices the way she extends her hurt ankle a little farther in order to avoid hurting it even more. He narrows his eyes. To think that the only reason she hasn't been sent away was only because of her broken ankle. He turns to walk back into the kitchen... And then he hears her voice. He looks back at her as she lowly stifles a cry.

_Is she having a bad dream?_

He makes his way over to her and walks around the bed to look at her expression. She covers her face with the blankets. Izaya places his hands into his pockets and she digs her face into her pillow. He reaches for the covers with his left hand and pulls them away from her face. He sees fright and agony. Her mouth parts slightly as she shows that it was a small scream that she had let out in her dream. He makes no move on waking her up. She did that all on her own as she wakes with a sudden feeling like she was about to fall. He lets her go and she noticed him right away.

"Good morning." He smiles.

Rio hesitates for a moment. Was he just... Watching her suffer inside her mind? She controls her breathing and moves away the covers from her injured leg.

"How is it?" He asks.

She flexibly gives him a dirty look and gets up in a hurry only to step on her bad ankle first. She lets out a yelp and he catches her before she hits the floor. "Please let me go." She says to him. He helps her get on her good leg and he lets her go completely. To think they were getting along so well... And then he had to just get ahead of himself and she just had to tell him off somehow.

They both don't exchange any conversation with one another. His mouth begins to form his little snotty grin and he asks, "can you do me a favor?"

She wanted to ask why he seemed to be observing her even when she's sleeping peacefully but instead she just plays along to still stay on his good side. "What is it...?" She's relieved that her voice calmed down from her sudden adrenaline.

"Don't ask him crazy questions when he gets here after I call him over. I want you to not say a word what so ever."

Rio makes a confused face and limps past him. "What are you talking about?" She asks.

He chases after her and says, "I am going to get you a suitable doctor. I should of done this before but it's still not too late. The only catch is; you need to be silent."

It was a little too early to boss Rio around but she complies as she nods and asks him what's for breakfast. Izaya, however, didn't feel like she was committed enough.

He walks around the counter as she finally sits down and he slams his hands on the counter. "Not. A. Word. Do I make myself clear?"

Rio looks blankly at him, having to have woken up from a terrible dream not too long ago, and she nods again and says "crystal clear."

"Good." He says loudly, at an attempt to wake her up a bit. He reaches for a cup of noodles and begins to microwave it for her.

She sighs and looks down at her hurt ankle. Once it's cured... She won't know what to do.

::::::::

Rio sits on the sofa as she drapes the sheets Izaya was using last night all over her. She would of thought he'd have a comment to say about that but he was surprisingly quiet. She waits for the unknown doctor. Izaya just has to go out for a bit to get him over here. Too bad there's no way on communicating like before...

"Can I ask him what his name is?" Rio asks Izaya as he makes his way to the door.

"You'll get his name when I call him by his name." He says. "Stay quiet around him and I'll know you do as you're told." And he leaves.

She sighs and looks out the window. What a shame that the rain had stopped during her slumber.

:::::::

Five hours pass and Rio still sits there waiting. She wanted to take a shower as quickly as possible. She needs to savior the idea of a regular day. Instead, she needs to wait. She needs to be quiet. She can't say a word.

She huffs in breath. She didn't want to say anything to the doctor anyway. What would he know about what Izaya has planned about her anyway? Only Izaya's hunting 'friend' from the first day of her being there would probably have a clue but he has made it completely clear that he wants nothing to do with her or Izaya's schemes.

She wraps herself in the blankets and thinks back on how Izaya wasn't bothered about sleeping on the couch for her benefit. He's very odd when he's nice because you don't suspect him to be after everything she has witnessed of him.

She decides to stand up to get some peaches when the front door opens up. She quickly sits back down and her body tenses up. She stopped her breathing and sat there completely still.

"So she's a sort of relative of yours?" The sound of the voice was very lighthearted but curious. "Seems to me that you really care about her."

The last sentence made Rio quickly look up. Izaya? Care about her? What lies has he been feeding him?

"Ah yes. She idiotically just broke it somehow." Izaya's voice made the girl's stomach drop with how much she wanted to roll her eyes to the back of her head. What a liar. When he pokes his head in and lets the doctor in, he says, "ah. There she is, Shinra."

Rio raise her eyebrows at the sound of his name. Wasn't that the same exact name that wasn't to be discussed? Now Rio wants to know why not.

"Rio, huh." Shinra says.

In summary, he seems to be a completely normal doctor. He had on a long white lab coat. His black glasses covered most of his face but you can tell he smiles a lot. Rio can't help but trust him.

"Alright. Where does it hurt.?"

Rio was in the verge on telling him but a look at Izaya made her remember that he 'took' her voice away. She simply pointed at her ankle where the most pressure is and he says, "alright let's see..."

After a long time on him giving Rio a check up and asking her questions, that Izaya answered for her, it was at the end where he says it should be okay in three weeks. A lot _can't_ happen in three weeks. She needs more time to plan. She can't be a sitting duck falling into Izaya's hands any longer than she has already. One slip up can make him send off the frail girl, even at night if he wants to, back to the life she had before. She needs to be calm and strong thinking. She needs to stop thinking more like Rio and start thinking more like him.

"Do you want some?" She hears Shinra say to her as he hands her some orange juice. She doesn't say anything as she reaches for it gently.

"Have you heard?" Shinra asks Izaya as he sits down on the couch across from the girl. "They're going to kill the smugglers that they found just outside the wall. I wonder why they didn't put up a fight though"

Rio listens in and continues to sip her juice. Izaya doesn't say anything for a while. He's more focused on making Shinra leave as soon as possible. He doesn't want to weight him down with his situation with Rio. He needs to do this on his own.

To add to Shinra's news, Izaya says," I heard that there were only two males. One had a nailed bat with him."

Rio's hands flinch and she looks up at them both. A nailed bat...?

"I believe", continues Shinra, "that they were looking for someone. That's odd, isn't it? Outsiders looking for their own in here? The only way an outsider can come in is by the help of someone who lives here already."

"What were their names?" Rio blurts out.

Izaya twitched by the sound of the soft voice. He gives Rio a hard look but she focuses more on Shinra and his answer. Shinra seems to be surprised by the fact that the honey colored haired girl can actually speak. Or the fact that she took an interest in general.

Rio feels like she knows them somehow. She knows she probably blew her chance to show Izaya that she deserves to stay here but at this moment she just wanted to know if it's _them._

Shinra gets passed the whole shock and says, "their names were never given out by the police. I'm sorry, I don't know..."

Rio feels her shoulders drop and she wanted to take back her question. Izaya claps his hands loudly twice and it makes Rio jump a little bit.

"Well, it's been a real chat, if I do say so myself." He exclaims. "But Shinra I think it's time for you to check out the next person on your list that you told me you really had to be there for."

Shinra nods and collects his stuff from the small coffee table. As he does, Rio suddenly felt the urge to kick something. A lot could be happening just because she opened her mouth. Shinra is probably thinking that she may have been the one they were looking for, thus, making Izaya the culprit who sneaked her into the establishment. Who would believe she's a long lost relative of Izaya's if both Izaya and Shinra probably have known each other for months?

She felt as though time has stopped moving and everything was going slow for this moment. She didn't know why it's happening. Despite her thoughts, she wanted to say more things to Shinra. She feels like she can trust him. She wanted to cry out, 'don't leave me here, please! Take me with you!' But fear took control over her, afraid she might get a bigger punishment for opening her mouth again. The girl suddenly feels a hand being placed on her small shoulder. She looks up at her safe haven in front of her leaving the room. Shinra says good bye and once the door closes, Izaya taps on her shoulder were he has his hand placed very harshly. He tells her to follow him.

Rio takes a big shaky breath in and stands up from her spot on the couch. She can play the innocent card and cry in front of him. Beg him to let her stay. Tell him all her worries and hope that he understands... Or... She can accept her fate with pride and leave all together.

Whatever happens... She hopes she survives in the end.

As she makes her way into the hallway where Izaya went, she tried keeping her breathing down. She doesn't want to let him know she's scared.

She finally reaches him at the end of the hall in front of the door to his 'office' and she waits for him to say something. He leans on the wall and simply lets the silence consume her. Rio stood still and her breathing was the only thing in full volume to her. That and the sound of her beating heart which was beating uncontrollably.

"You know..." His first words made her close her eyes shut very tightly. "I've never seen you like this before."

She opens her eyes slowly and looks at him as he returns the gaze. She wasn't sure what he was going to say next.. But she knows that he's now aware of her and her insecurities of being kicked out to join the outside again. She never should of let him in.

"Aren't... You going to scold me...?" She asks hesitantly. She doesn't want to exactly say the actual sentence as, 'aren't you going to kick me out?'

He laughs a very heartfelt laugh and says, "You know what you did wrong. But honestly, I was only half mad when you spoke up. At one point, I wanted to praise you for going that long without speaking." He ignores her face of horror on seeing him enjoy the last minutes of her breakdown and walks into the room. "But I grew curious. What made you ask for their names all of a sudden? My only conclusion is that you knew those people. Am I right?"

Rio doesn't want him to know more about her anymore. If he's going to kick her out then he should just tell her. She wants to leave being known as a mystery to him.

She follows him in his room but stays quiet not wanting him to know what those two mean to her.

He smirks knowing he may have struck a nerve and he goes over to her and says, "You don't have to tell me. I just want to let you know that I'm taking back my bed and room."

Rio takes a step back and studies him. He makes a confused expression and she says, "y-you're not going to..." She stops talking, afraid she might put the idea into his head.

He straightens his back and begins to approach her. She stands her ground and only felt the urge to step back once. She dismisses it as he stops inches away from her. She felt strange and smothered by his presence so close to her as if he was a black hole sucking in the light that surrounds her. In this case, her need to breathe. He focuses on her face and she does her best to not look at the wall like she always does. Maybe it's a bad idea standing up for herself, but she couldn't help wanting him to know that she isn't just some rag doll, with a broken ankle, that doesn't have a backbone.

He sighs and, in a very hushed voice that will probably never leave her head any time soon, he says-

_"I can't let you go."_


	9. Time For Survival Part 7

Her stern face relaxes into confusion as her head gets stuck trying to think of what he just said. Her breath leaves her lungs for a short second. Her shoulders lower as she stands there wanting him to explain what he meant by those words.

He catches on quick as he exclaims ,"I, um, can't let you go while you're still recovering." He says and then calmly states, "It wouldn't be right, I suppose."

Rio felt her shoulders fall. She couldn't help but feel sad about the idea that he's keeping her there for what he did to her other than actually growing a friendship with her. Then again, she's not very fond of his personality at all... Their friendship wouldn't work at all.

To Izaya, he can't seem to understand if it's guilt he is feeling or a form of an actual bond. She apologized to him last night and that's something he didn't think she would ever do. She's too proud. Maybe it's from how interesting she turned out to be in the end. The way she knew those two men and the way she just couldn't tell him how she knew them. In the end, it's the reason that she didn't tell him about them that got her privilege from sleeping on his bed taken away. _How childish can I get?_ He wondered.

Perhaps it's not guilt nor bond that is keeping her here. Maybe it's the way she acts around him. She acts, in occasion, very strange around him. The moments in which she told him that she took an interest in him to the time she was able to identify his smell after taking a shower are all part of strange behavior to Izaya. He can't understand if it's really just her being interesting or it being a red flag that he should let her go right now before it's too late.

Yet, he stands there. Not talking. Just looking and waiting for her.

She walks over to the bed and looks around the small newspaper filled room. She didn't exactly want to say she will miss it... Because she's great full that she gets to stay even if it's just a little bit longer and even if she had to sleep on the old couch. Back pain with a roof over her head sounds more than enough.

She nods in spite of herself and gets up carefully not to hurt her ankle more. "Well I wouldn't want to keep you from sleeping now so I'm just going to make my way over to the restroom...!" She limps her way over to the clothes she set out earlier and picks them up from the bed. "Um... Bye..." She waves at him as he waves back and she walks out quickly.

The girl didn't quite feel like it was her place to argue that she's still injured due to his actions and that she probably needs the bed more than he does. In reality, this is enough.

She entered the rest room and undresses quickly to get done quicker. She doesn't want to get her right for a shower taken away either if that's something he does as well.

As she gets into the hot water, she realizes that a plan to leave here even before she's all better would probably save her and Izaya more time and breath.

Izaya changes the sheets to the bed and looks around observing every nook and cranny of his room. He honestly thought that she planted a knife or anything sharp around but it was all clean. To his surprise, he just found the old clothes she had on when she first came there.

These carry terrible memories, what is she thinking? Izaya wondered.

He shakes his head and stuffs them in a small basket. He'll get her new things, why would she ever need those?

Getting up, he looks over at the hallway. It's quiet and it was still light out. He exits the room and stands in front of the bathroom door. He knocks.

Rio jumps and tries to keep calm when saying, "y-yes...?"

"I'm heading out. You'll be fine on your own for just a couple of minutes, right?"

She finds herself smiling brightly. "Sure! I'll be fine, don't worry!"

This is her chance to finally get her plan going.

"Okay. I'll see you later."

::::::::::Rio::::

She has no idea if he left. She didn't hear the door from the living room open. Regardless, she quickly finishes up and dresses quickly. She exits the bathroom and calls Izaya. No response. Rio goes over to the living room and picks up a newspaper. She pulls out a pencil from the small pencil dispenser he has on the kitchen counter and proceeds to draw the apartment. Her plan is to leave with a couple of useful items and try to live somewhere inside the safe guard walls.

The possibilities of them running into each other in the same 'city' is maybe 40% but Rio sees that as a good thing. She won't be his problem. She'll be able to go try and survive here on her own without him so that he can have his life back.

She understands the good in her plan and circles the only exit on the whole apartment. The door in the living room.

There's also the outside stairs from outside the window of his bedroom.

She marks those down on the newspaper. She takes note of the most times he leaves the apartment and how long he stays away.

She stops mid sentence and looks up at the sink in the kitchen. _Why doesn't she just ask him...?_

Why doesn't she just tell him she rather live in the Safe Guard Walls and that she doesn't have a problem with living on her own somewhere...?

Instead of just leaving like a jerk?

She suddenly feels like everything she thought of went down the drain. She crumbles the paper up and throws it with the pile of crumbled up newspapers near the cabinet in the corner of the room.

She remembers the things he's done to her like breaking her ankle, acting like a tyrant, taking his bed back, and watching her suffer quietly. Overall, he's done some good things. No matter how bad the world is, Rio swore it wouldn't ever get to her. But in times like these... What do you do?

What if he has let the world get to him? What if he will do something terrible to her if she stays or even asks him?

She hits the counter with her fist. _Dammit!_

Why is he so confusing?! Damn him!

She stays seated. She only moves her good leg and tries to come up with a less heart breaking plan. Maybe she can leave him a note.

A nice one saying all the good things about him and that she hopes to see him one day again. Maybe he'll be okay with just that.

She gets up from her spot on the kitchen chair and walks to the paper that she threw on the floor. She doesn't pick it up. She lets it stay there. It's looks more natural than sticking it in the trash or a cabinet somewhere.

She walks over to her new bed. How comfy.

:::::::Izaya::::

"You think I look like someone who knows what would be entertaining to an 18 year old girl?" Namie says as she stacks up on medicine in Shinra's small pharmacy.

"Uh, yeah? You're a girl. You must know at least one thing." Izaya says as he just watches her do all the work.

"Namie, make sure to leave the smaller bottles on that side, please, thank you." Shinra says behind piles of paper work on his desk.

Izaya looks around the box filled room and spins himself on the small chair he's sitting on. He starts thinking about Rio being all alone in the apartment. Could that be triggering to her? She's been alone in the woods. Could that bring memories? Or does it work that way?

He sighs and gets up from the chair. "Thanks for being so useful like always Namie." Namie rolls her eyes and takes her turn on sitting on the chair. "Shinra, this place is a dump. I believe I've told you this before."

Shinra just waves at his remarks and continues to write things down on the paperwork.

"It's your fault we got stuck in a small pharmacy like this." Namie says as she picks up and outdated magazine.

Izaya puts a hand over his heart. "What? After helping you and Shinra from the outside of these walls and smothering you two in? How ungrateful."

Namie makes a face and continues to read from the magazine.

"Oh! Izaya, that reminds me..." Shinra looks up from his papers and walks around to lean on the desk. "How long are you going to make that girl, who you saved not too long ago, stay with you? Why can't you do what you did with Namie and me when you let us just live a normal life here?"

Izaya digs his hand into his pocket. The only remark he has is, "she's an odd one. She seems to be in a complete crisis when it comes to thinking I might throw her out. The best part is that I'm not really lying to her. She's thinking all these things on her own. She's assuming I'm the bad guy and I'll let her have her fun."

Namie stays quiet, pretending that she's not paying attention. Shinra quickly says, "so... Until she gets better you'll tell her?"

Izaya smiles and shrugs as he stands straight. "We'll see how this plays out, okay?" He turns to leave and quickly says, "do something about these boxes." And shuts the door behind him. Izaya knows they both have different mindsets than his. He also knows that they disagree with almost anything he says. In the end, however, it doesn't change the fact that they both owe a big debt to him. Wether they asked for it or not and that makes the grinning man skip down the cement stairs, hitting the road to get back home.

* * *

He yawns as he gets near the door that leads to his rightful apartment. He suddenly hears cluttering noises coming from inside. He rapidly finds the key and barges in. Izaya hears the noise coming from his bedroom and he makes his way over there only to find Rio all alone making a mess in his bedroom.

"Rio?!" He calls out.

She had pulled the covers off the bed and even flipped the mattress upside down. She throws around the files from the file cabinets and lets them fly out. Only then did he hear her words of frustration say, "where are they?!"

He couldn't just stand there and let her rip almost everything apart. He goes to her, even though her demeanor seemed dangerous, and grabs her by her waist. "Let me go!" She demanded. She thrashed and kicked.

Izaya grips onto her clothes and yells over her tantrum, "What's the matter with you?! What happened?!"

She realized who she was talking to and becomes still. She touched the floor with her bare feet and tries to ignore the intense pain in her ankle. The injured girl breaks out of his grip and turns her whole torso to him, clinging onto his sleeves. She had hopeful eyes and desperate tears as she asks the question, "w-what did you do to my old clothes...?"

Izaya, suddenly feeling heavy at the chest, says, "What? Why do you need them?"

"What did you do...?" She asks again much more quietly.

He looks between the emotions in her eyes. He could of felt as empty as her to make her feel better when he says, "I gave them away along with other things."

But, of course, he didn't.

She didn't say anything at first. She just kind of stared in disbelief. She smiled but it was completely for show. Only to make her stop from tearing up in front of him but it didn't work. She lets go of his sleeves. He didn't want to let go of her arms but it seemed only natural to not hold her when she makes a face like that.

She limps pathetically over to the center of the room and sits down, looking at the newspaper covered window.

Izaya straightens up and thinks it wouldn't be wise to approach her. He didn't necessarily want to leave either. He stood waiting for a moment to ask why she's acting this way. His guessing inside his head became a speedy game before that moment actually came up.

Perhaps she's upset that she didn't get a say on what happens to her past self. Maybe she's angry because it was clothes she actually liked.

Who knows. Only she knows.

She gets up and turns to leave. She walks slowly but she kept a straight face without looking at him. He reaches out and she yells at him to not touch her. Soon, it was just him in that room looking at the newspaper filled windows.

* * *

How can he put up with her? How has she been manageable up until now? Why does she not care that he might kick her out? How come she's acting this way because of a pair of stupid clothes?!

Dirty clothes! They were completely useless!

Izaya enters the kitchen almost in beast speed and approaches her with a violent aura. He's mad from the disrespect but he calms himself knowing he doesn't know the full story. Yet, he comes near and adds more fuel to the flame.

As she stands near the sofa close to the window, she does her best to not acknowledge his presence. He goes right up to her and takes her arm in his hand.

"Don't ignore me and tell me what's wrong." She feels the forced calmness and does her best not to move... But also doesn't say anything. He takes her by the wrists and shakes her. "They're. Just. Clothes! Why are you acting this way!"

She explodes with anger as she says, "there was something inside the pocket of the blouse that was of high value to me and you just threw it away like it was nothing!" She pulls tight from his grip and she frees herself.

He stands there not seeing the problem of the situation.

She raises her head and looks him dead in the eye. "A picture. My family. The only thing I had left of them."

He furrows his brow and says, "that's it? A picture?"

She hits him on the chest. "That photo, compared to you, is like the cure to the apocalypse to me and you're like the thing that started it." She had on a deadly face of hatred and resentment as she walks past him and picks up her pillow. "So fuck you and your overbite." And she walks into the bathroom and locks the door.

There was an odd silence when she did that. A cold quietness. It was like a moment that will bring in emotions to a fire man such as Izaya. Only thing is... Will he be able to understand them..?

Izaya calmly sits down on the sofa and looks at the door she disappeared behind. He couldn't ignore the heaviness in his chest. It was bothering him. He just felt like perhaps it would be okay to let her have some time alone so that she can clear her head. Pulling his jacket off he realizes she probably didn't eat anything. He'll have to find excuses to still take care of her. He's good at that sort of thing though.

He gets up knowing he'll have to clean the mess she made all by himself. He can feel negativity when passing the bathroom. In the end, Izaya just feels like maybe her hating him was something that couldn't be avoided. Anything can be predicted when you know someone well enough. Predicting and boring all at the same time.

* * *

_A/N _

_Hey! I'm really going at it with this story but I hope I can fit in more AUs on here because it's all about that ahah;;;_

_Don't worry, if you like this story, it won't be the end if I upload a random AU one shot out of nowhere :) I just have to find real good ones ^^! _

_Thank you so much for reading both this one and WDSTSL! It means a lot! :)_


	10. Time for Survival Part 8

::::::Rio::::

If anything, she hopes that her words wounded him just a little bit. She wants to know if he is capable of feeling regret or responsible for someone's sorrow. Although, she didn't wanted it to happen this way at all.

She sits on the wet tiled floor looking at the sink. It's rusted and dripping water at a certain rhythm. It seemed calmer than her heart. She calmed down just a little bit... But the thought of never having her loved ones close to her ever again still makes her upset. Even more the way he acted like it wasn't a big deal.

Though, at the same time, she knows it's not entirely his fault. She should of at least shared that detail about her. Or maybe remembered about sticking those clothes somewhere in his room. Yet, it really happened and the only thing she can do now is move on, remember they're close to her heart, and forgive Izaya.

It seems foolish but her bigger idea is to not part from him with soiled emotions and bitter views.

He never meant to do it. But at the same time she doesn't want to stay in an environment where one's feelings don't matter. She'll carry out her plan on leaving but not until they make up.

Rio didn't quiet understand how long she's been in there but hopefully it was enough time for him to calm down as well. He was scary but she knows she was just as bad. She looks down at her wrists which were still red. She sighs and tries coming up with an excuse to exit the bathroom... And then her stomach growls. She hugs her pillow knowing she's not ready to face him just yet. She's afraid that she doesn't know him well and is still angry. She's afraid he might be selfish and makes her apologies to him followed by an evil glare as he kicks her out of the entire building.

Her heart beats faster and she realizes she's just making herself scared. She needs to stop assuming things. It just makes her feel terrible.

She gets up and adjusts her ankle comfortably. She takes her pillow and walks to the door. As she exits, she hears nothing. She just notices that it's darker than before. She clutches onto her stomach and does her best to walk to the kitchen. For a second she thought he was gone... But she then spots him sitting on the counter eating strawberries.

He sees her as well while she tries looking away from his stare. It was awkward even though it was his plan to let her have some in the first place. Knowing it won't really fix anything, he remembered that she could probably use some food so he looked in his fridge for them. Now he can't even think of something to say.

She goes to the sofa, setting her pillow down, and he still doesn't make a move to apologies. Rio sees this as a sign that maybe she needs to say something first.

But honestly... What is there to say?

"Listen..." He finally says. She didn't want to look at him as he enjoys the food. "I didn't know they had something in the pockets and I should of checked. I'm sorry."

She was taken aback from his apology. She didn't mean to look up at the only window in the room and just completely become silent. She was honestly and un doubtfully very surprised.

He, on the other hand, expected her to yell something like, "I don't care about your sorry! Bring back my photo! I hate you!"

But that's not what happened.

She just stands up and still doesn't look at him. Maybe she's thinking of ways to kill him or maybe she gave up on a friendship and realizes how bad of a person he is. That's all she really ever has been doing around him.

Or perhaps she's just going to ignore him until the end of time.

"Thank you..." She says.

...

She sounded very grateful. It was strange.

Izaya realizes he's been frozen by her words for only a second when he drops his half eaten strawberry into his bowl. He turns his gaze up to her and she finally looks at him. "I thought a lot on it and... I just feel like maybe most of the things I said was an overreaction... And I'm very sorry too."

He narrows his eyes trying to find out if she's just saying it to get some food. Though... She's been in there for such a long time that it's almost not reachable to think that all she's been doing was let her hate grow more. She's not like that. It's weird how he let himself think that she is. She's not predictable at all.

He presses his lips together, looking at the strawberries, and pushes the bowl gently across from him. "I lost my appetite. Do you want some?"

She notices that he changed the subject... And for some reason she admired that from him. Any longer and they both would of suffocated of the awkwardness that surrounded the room after a full fledged word fight between them. Especially when she hasn't yelled like that in a while. It just gave her the chills thinking that she knew him well for that moment. Maybe he feels the same way.

Despite all that, she smiles and walks over to sit down. She thanks him quietly and eats as he doesn't say a word and stays quiet.

This is a good mood to Rio. This is what she wants to escape from. She knows he won't be hurt that she leaves. She'll be glad to show him how tough she has become when she leaves.

In all the thoughts, Rio suddenly felt empty inside. Why does she keep thinking that they will see each other again? As if she wants them to still be friends in the future?

She sighs quietly and continues to eat. She always goes towards the light of the situation, she can't help it.

Her eyes wonder and she gazes at him. He notices her as he moves his gaze to her as well. She doesn't say anything for a while but then, she picks up a strawberry and asks him to hold out his hand.

He fights the urge to snicker as he does and she places the strawberry on his hand.

"Eat, sleep longer, take care of yourself more." She says. "I won't always be around and it's no brainer that you should really hire a maid to clean this place."

His smile slowly fades. He looks down at the strawberry on his hand. He closes his fingers gently closing in the strawberry and he looks back up at her. "Don't say it like that." He says gently.

She stands her ground and doesn't move an inch. "Why not...?"

"Because it sounds like you're saying good bye when you say it like that."

She shapes her hands into fists and takes them off the table. She tries her hardest to smile and she says, "yeah, sure. Say what you want to get out of cleaning this place with me when I get all better." And she stands up to limp to her bed. It was impossible to try and not look back but she managed. She did her best to set the couch and lie down trying not to hurt herself more. She finds it odd how he didn't say anything else to her. It was almost like he let himself lose this little talk without having the last word. She almost felt so paralyzed as the time went on and he was still in the kitchen. Just cleaning and sorting things. It's impossible to sleep but if he thinks she is then that's fine with her. The fight they had is in the past... Now it's the fact that if they talk any longer he might find out on what she is planning to do in about three days from now. Leave and be happy on her own sounds way more fun than slowing him down.

She almost felt inhumane as he stood where she slept and he called her name only to not get an answer from her because she was still pretending to sleep. He seemed like he really wanted to say something... But she guesses it wasn't important enough to wake her because he just turns to go to his room as she finally drifts off into deep sleep.

::::: the next day:::

Rio is the first one to wake up.

It may seem like something that might have never happened ever but it did. Anything really can be possible.

She stands up looking out the window. There's some light coming in that she can tell it's probably 5 A.M. It's not a fair awakening but she just couldn't sleep. Also, she couldn't risk him leaving and she had to find out later how long he's been gone. She wants to time it correctly to get as far away as she possibly can just so that he doesn't follow her.

Rio feels like she suddenly became a spy of some sort. An undercover agent with the only motive being leaving in three days without being too suspicious. Maybe he might catch on at the last minute and just let her leave. She hopes that would be something that might happen.

She smiles and makes her bed. After that, she walks to the small kitchen being careful with her ankle. She opens the fridge and takes out some juice. As she pours in her drink, she thinks about maybe serving him some too. It would be funny to Rio if she waltz right in with a simple glass of juice and wakes him up just to drink it. A harmless small prank that she feels is better than leaving a biter in the middle of the living room.

She fills up another cup and begins walking to the hallway. She stops and looks up ahead to where his room is. The door is closed... How come?

This doesn't make sense... He always tells her to leave the door open when she's sleeping in there...

She walks over to the door and turns the knob. Surprisingly enough, it opens. She sighs in relief and walks in very quietly. She shuts the door behind her and looks up at where he sleeps. She suddenly thinks that it's not really a good idea to wake him. They might start to talk and he might find something out about her. She doesn't at all believe that she's dumb enough to slip something out about her plan. She just really thinks he's too smart for his own good.

She works up the nerve to get near him and sets the glass down on the night stand next to his bed. Perhaps she can just leave it there...

He suddenly moves a little and she winces at the thought that he woke up to see her standing there suspiciously... But he just turned around soundly with his back facing her. She suddenly peers over to look at him. He's done it to her... Why can't she do it too?

His face was covered with the blanket and it just took a light finger to pull them away. She smiles a little at the sight, trying not to snicker. Suddenly, he grabs onto her wrist and pulls her in. She bites back an urge to scream and closes her eyes tightly.

"Oh. It's just you." He says.

Rio opens her eyes slowly. He has her pinned to the bed at her wrists. She couldn't move the lower part of her body and she's surprised her ankle isn't hurt the slightest. It's almost scary.

"If it's 'just me', can you let me go?"

He gets up from her and she quickly fixes herself up not letting him see that he got to her in that second.

"What are you doing in here? You're suppose to be asleep."

Rio quickly realizes that it's very out of character for her to be up this early... How is she barely realizing this?

"I... I sort of woke up early and brought you something to drink." She hands him the glass of juice. "Surprise..."

He sighs and sits back on the bed. "You had me thinking someone finally broke into this old dusty place." He takes the glass and thanks her.

She quickly turns to leave and he calls her name. She turns to look at him. "Yes?..."

His stare becomes unreadable and there's really no telling if he meant to say her name or not... There was just something stuck in the air. Something like a broken promise or a sudden warmness. He just stays quiet as he hands the empty glass to her. She hesitates and then walks her way over to take it. Leaving the room soon after that felt rewarding. She was able to take in a breath.

To Rio, it almost feels like he knows something but he doesn't want to say...

Maybe he _will_ let her leave when the time comes...

Maybe he's just tired of dealing with her.

She sets the cup on the counter. She's suddenly bothered by the thought.

:::::::::

Rio watches from the couch as he walks to the bathroom to take a shower. This is the first Rio has seen him wake up and take a shower. It feels so reliving to see him in his most vulnerable moments. Almost like she has found a hidden egg on his life.

By the time he comes out of the restroom, he asks her if she needs anything.

Naturally, she says no and he left soon after.

The girl quickly goes over to the pile of newspapers next to the file cabinet on the corner. She searches for the newspaper she crumbled up yesterday and began taking note of the time. Normally she'd probably wake up ten minutes later from now or more. She's a much heavy sleeper than he is. He's too light in fact. Sneaking off during the night is a no.

It has to be during the day and during the time he's absent from the entire building. This can't be that tough, right?

:::::::::

Staying awake during this whole time quickly made Rio... Bored.

There was just nothing entertaining about the place. There was only junk, newspapers, some pieces from the walls all over the floor. The worst part is that she can't even clean up because of her broken ankle. She's just staring off at the mess and doing nothing all day. Well... Maybe just writing the moments where an hour passes but in general, she's doing nothing at all.

She gets up from the sofa to get herself something to eat. Fruit is great but she's starting to get tired of it. She keeps telling herself that beggars really can't be choosers in her type of situation though...

Looking at all the items there, she sees there's enough for her to stuff half of the items in a backpack while not leaving him dry. She hopes its still this full in three days.

She takes a can and goes over to open it up. She takes a knife out a drawer since apparently a can opener is too much of a delicacy.

She tries staying focus but she then under stood one thing. Her ankle oddly enough has been feeling a little bit better. Shinra had said it would be better in about three weeks... What if... It gets better earlier than that?

Thinking hard on it was a big mistake. She learned this when she lost her hold on the knife, slashing the very skin between her thumb and index finger. She grits her teeth and puts the knife down carefully. She stammers as she quickly reaches for a towel and presses it onto the wound. She curses at herself as she walks to the shelf where Izaya had the first aid kit stored in. Before, she would just tie a clothing around it and get over it... Now she has something to take care of herself with. She's grateful for it... But she tries to dismiss it. It only makes her feel worse about her plan. In reality, no amount of excuses can cover up this accident.

::::::Izaya

Going deeper into the abandoned side of the city really payed off. There was plenty of items there that could be useful to the apartment and even more extra clothes for Rio. Normally Izaya would always skip the women's clothing stores in broken down malls... But this time, he sort of had to go in.

He enters the room and the first thing he notices is that it's too quiet and Rio is no where in sight. He sets the bags down on the sofa and looks to the kitchen. She pops up and says,"ah... Welcome home!"

Izaya drags his right hand across his face. "How come you find it so hilarious to try and make it seem like someone took you away or that something bad happened?"

Rio awkwardly shifts where she's standing, afraid he might see the medical bandages on her left hand. "I-I'm sorry..."

"It's fine, I'm just really tired from today. "He turns his back to her as he takes a bag from the sofa.

Rio quickly walks closer to see what he brought. She hopes he brought a decent can opener.

"This bag here is for you. Whatever is in it, you keep."

He hands it over and she takes it with her right hand. She couldn't stop staring at it as if it's Christmas morning and she woke up to find a present under the tree. She wasn't able to say thank you clear enough but he got the gist of it.

"No... Seriously... Thank you..."

Izaya noticed her sudden change in character. Was she really that sorry about yelling at him yesterday? Or is it something else...?

He decides to shrug it off. Knowing her, if she was able to leave here like he can, she would probably get better things for herself.

He turns to the sofa that has the bags of food he was given today and he feels her light touch as she pulls onto his sleeve. To Izaya, it's so hard to describe the times when they make physical contact. He just knows he hasn't had it in a long time. He wanted it to stay that way but it really can't be helped.

She mumbles something and he gives her his full attention as he turns towards her. She doesn't meet his eyes and she repeats herself as she says, "I... I have to tell you something..."

He hears the seriousness from her voice and he slowly comes in closer to prevent missing anything she has to say. He suddenly sees this as a bad idea. He can feel her temperature hitting warm. Being so close to her made everything else become so silent. He closes his eyes to to try and un imagine the fact that they're now only inches away from each other, when she raises her left hand up.

"I... Sort of cut myself severely with your knife..."

::::::::

Of course that ruined the moment entirely and Izaya just acted like an angry knife professional all day. He said things to her like, 'were your hands wet? They can't be wet, Rio!' And even 'this is how you hold it- no, wait- show me how you were holding it and then I'll tell you what you did wrong.' While the entire time, he took off her bandages and told her she even did that part terribly.

The whole time though...Rio, oddly enough, was smiling. She was feeling a sense that maybe... Just maybe... He felt just a little bit worried about her and her stupidity.

The day came to a close as the sun finally sets. It's back to darkness and back to sleeping on the old couch for Rio.

She makes the bed, remembering about how something terrible can turn to a great bonding moment. She always sees the more human part about him when it's just treating her to her wounds or just serving her something to eat. He's just strange all on his own. It's like he puts on a fake mask once it's noticeable that they're getting too comfortable with each other.

He then walks in front of her vision and sets down a ramen noodle cup on the coffee table. "I thought it was time to stop eating fruit for now." He says.

She smiles as she sits down and waits for it to cook.

"I... Like the clothes you got me..." She says. Rio can't pass an opportunity to just let out some conversation going after the awful events from yesterday.

"I'm glad you find them okay. I've never really took my time to get someone else something to wear."

She feels herself wanting to let out some form of laughter. She never really did that sort of thing either. She sees how she would of been able to go with him on these types of things if her ankle wasn't messed up. He probably brought along those other four people... Who ever they were...

"So... Do you know anything... About what's going on with those two men they found..?" She asks him.

He swallows as he takes a good look at her expression. Not exactly hopeful... Not sad either.

"No. Not really." He says. She nods as she picks her cup up to her mouth slowly. He sits back on his chair and says, "are they both... People you care about?" He asks breaking the silence.

She lowers the cup to her lap and doesn't look away from him. It took her a while but she says, "they were members of a certain bandit group that was terrorizing my group. Their group attacked us and some of us split up. I was left all alone wondering the woods for such a long time... I didn't know I was so close to the safe guard walls..." Her voice breaks and she tries wiping a tear that never had the chance to fall. She shakes as she tries brushing away hair from her face, "whatever happened to them... I just hope they understood the error of their ways..."

She stays silent. Izaya sees nothing but her agonizing regret of many things that she has done. It's something new to him. Something new about her. It's like she's crawling with different tragedies... It almost feels like a cliff hanger when she stops talking.

He gets up from where he was siting. She meets his gaze, making a confused expression.

"I've never really experienced that sort of thing before." He says. "But I can tell you that they probably deserve whatever punishment they're getting right now."

Before, he didn't exactly want to let her know how this government works. He knows how cruel they can be. It's almost savage. He kept quiet thinking that they were important to her. There's no point on holding that in anymore...

He picks up his empty cup and goes over to the kitchen. She concentrates on what he said and took comfort in the words. The only real reason she let Izaya take her in here in the first place was because... In that attack, no one was really getting out of there alive. She realized there was no one to turn to or to go back to. She was alone. Alone all over again until she can find a new home that might shatter just the same.

* * *

I just want to quickly say that I am so grateful that you are still reading/ it means a lot to me

Even if it's just one review a chapter it still makes me very happy?! Ahaha it's just the best thing out of this (aside from trying to bring a couple like this one to life ahah;;; )

Thank you again and I hope you still continue reading/!


	11. Time For Survival Part 9

:::::::::Izaya:::

He hopes she's not getting ahead of herself.

After yesterday, he hates to think that maybe she might be thinking she's getting to him. Yes, he involuntarily leaned in to her. Yes, he sort of felt responsible for her injured hand. And yes, he tried to comfort her in a terrible state. Though, to Izaya, this is all something he would be doing to anyone at all. Not just her.

She can't be a favorite. There's no such thing. That's all in his head.

He thinks about that as he walks over to the bathroom in such a quiet morning. There's really nothing to be thinking so strongly about. She's not getting to him. This can be a list of things that just happens when Rio is involved. Which Izaya had stated that she is very very unpredictable.

Entering the restroom, he can feel steam and the smell of strawberry shampoo. He freezes for a moment to see Rio standing there completely clean from the shower she just took and also very exposed wearing only her undergarments. She looks up at him, completely out of words and letting a small gasp escape her mouth.

There was a slight push deep within him as he closes the door very calmly.

Oh boy. This one... Is a problem...

:::::::::::

"Here." Izaya says sternly as he hands Rio a piece of notebook paper.

"What's this?" She asks. She's sitting on a stool in front of the kitchen counter drying her hair.

"That's a schedule. Since you, out of no where, decided to wake up earlier than me, I decided to make this perfect schedule so that the incident from this morning doesn't happen again."

"You're well organized, aren't you?" She smiles.

He crosses his arms, "what's the matter with you? You're not the least bit un comfortable? I would of thought you would be."

She gets up from the stool and faces him, "It happened. And with this-" she holds up the schedule, "it won't happened again, like you said."

She walks past him carefully and he says, "there wouldn't have to be a schedule if you weren't so clumsy and forgot to lock the door." First the knife and now this. Izaya is starting to think it's a miracle she survived this long.

She stops as she gets near the small hallway. "I guess I'm not used to it yet..." She says.

He relaxes his muscles and remembers she really hasn't had any privacy back in the woods. Even more so, he sees he has the same problem. He isn't used to having someone in his apartment for so long that he didn't think twice about knocking.

"Alright. It's fine. I'll be back until noon. Don't try to open anything while I'm gone."

He heads to the door as she says, "How about bringing an actual can opener!"

He flashes her a quick smirk as he leaves.

She was alone again. It always happens but for some reason it's not the same this time. It's feels lonelier than other times. Does she truly miss him being there?

She shakes her head. She can't start thinking that way. She needs to stick to her plan.

She gets down to business as she takes the crumbled up newspaper and the new schedule that he gave her up to the kitchen counter.

In the morning, she takes a shower. He will take night showers.

She writes that down on the newspaper.

He leaves at around the time he's done brushing his teeth, and then comes back when the sun is setting. He leaves for six hours or less.

Who knows what he does. He's so complex. It's a thing Rio will never forget about him.

:::::::::::Izaya::::

Izaya did his best to try and forget this morning but it keeps coming back to him. He's exhausted from scavenging all day outside the walls so that makes it worse.

"Oi, Izaya, Something seems to be bothering you." Izaya's 'military buddy' who knows about Rio comes out of the trees to see what's been bothering him. He finds it odd that Izaya hasn't once taunted him like he normally does.

"It's nothing. I'm fine, I just need to forget a few things and then I'll be even better." He says.

"Will smuggling people inside make you feel better?" He says jokingly.

Izaya ignores him as he walks to a tree close by. There were pieces of cloth on the tree as if someone was marking their trace. "Hey... Someone's been here..." Izaya says.

"What? Really?"

Suddenly they hear someone start yelling at the top of their lungs. "Someone please help!"

"Speaking of helping people." The man said.

Izaya sprints towards the sound as his friend follows after him with less enthusiasm.

He is greeted by a fast flowing river and a woman at the edge of it who seems to be stuck. She quickly spots him and calls out.

"Don't worry," Izaya says calmly as soon as he reaches up to her, "we'll get you out of this."

She sobs and thanks him so many times. She must be the leaving the pieces of cloth on the trees.

Izaya quickly notices her freshly blood stained sleeves and shirt.

"Hu-hurry! You don't have much time!" She says. "They're after me!"

"Who's after you? What are you talking about?" He says as he looks over at what's causing her on being trapped. He guesses that she stepped too hard and it caused her to sink in. In the process, he was getting soaked with the blood stained water as well.

She yells loudly and Izaya looks at her, half annoyed, as she points towards the forest. Her voice shakes harshly, "They're here..."

Izaya looks up across the river to see biters slowly emerging from behind the trees and making their way towards them both.

"Help me! Help me please!"

"Okay, okay! Stop yelling, you're only attracting more!" But in reality, there's already a lot as it is.

Izaya finally gets her left leg free and he tries focusing on the other one. During all the screaming, crying, and growling... He almost missed a very important detail about her.

That detail being that... Her left foot was completely missing.

"They're crossing the river, we need to hurry!" She screams.

Izaya quickly takes her other leg out to really understand... and finally got the big picture. She was already bit here too.

In all the shock, he realized that he was about to die.

The monsters were only inches away from them now. He'd pull out his gun but it's too late. The biter forces it's body closer with teeth so yellow and rotten, it made Izaya gagg. He closes his eyes tight and a bullet is shot.

"Izaya! You better get up and save her right now!"

Izaya looks back at his friend and quickly gets up with the woman in his arms. Izaya carries her away from the river bank when another biter gets close. He quickly pulls out his gun and shoots it right between the eyes. He spits, feeling droplets of blood falling onto the side of his lip. There was more struggle to come as he notices the size of the herd that they called. There was too many to count.

"We're close by the walls!" His friend yells over the groans of the dead, "we can make it, just the two of us!"

That's insinuating that they should leave her behind...

All the more, his friend hasn't noticed that she isn't worth fighting the herd for anyhow. She's doomed at this moment...

Izaya starts thinking of a strategy were they all three can make it close to the walls so that they can end her life in a more formal matter. That seems too much to ask right then and there though.

"Izaya!"

"Let me think!" He feels the pressure harder than before as he feels her small brooch clawing at his skin.

He involuntarily drops her and he looks at his wound. It's bleeding.

"No!" He looks up at her to see she's swarmed with them. "No! Do-don't leave me! Please help me!"

Izaya felt his gut swarm around like a buzzing beehive. It was hot suddenly and he felt his hand reach out to meet hers.

"Help me!"

The biters took her away yet he continues to reach.

"Don't let them take m-"

She's suddenly quiet. She stares lifeless at him. A bullet through the brain completely made her quiet. It never fails for anyone.

Izaya feels his body being pulled away from the scene at a fast pace. The last thing he saw of that spot was her body being dismantled by them. The things that used to be people. How cruel.

* * *

Izaya sits in the car staring at his bandaged arm as his friend makes a payment with the tire shop man. The day is ending soon and he only got half on what he earns that day.

The man enters the car and hands Izaya a canned coffee. Izaya takes it as he mumbles a thank you. The man rubs his hands together as he starts the engine.

"How come..." Izaya's words start to fade. He doesn't have energy to finish his thoughts. The man stops the engine and looks at Izaya with full attention. Izaya shakes his head and looks out the window. Izaya already knows what was going through his friend's head when he shot her back there. So really, what's the point on asking...?

"You don't really need to share what's on your mind. All day you've been a wreck and now the event from today probably didn't make it better." Izaya just nods and opens his canned coffee. "I just want you to know that you have someone waiting for you back home. Be glad it wasn't you." He starts the engine and Izaya focuses on the man's words longer than he should of. "Man, I am really starting to think you're turning soft." He jokingly says as they make it to the open road to get him home safe.

* * *

"Take care." Izaya tells the man as he backs away from the parked spot and makes a U turn back. Izaya quickly shapes up and walks up to the apartment building's front door. He walks a couple of stairs until he is finally faced with his room. It suddenly didn't feel right to just walk in. He felt like he was being told that there's something turning away from his existence. Some type of betrayal. It's been haunting him since the last time he and Rio fought.

Out of everything that has happened today, he doesn't want to think about that. It's more important to just move on from it completely.

He goes to open the door. Rio sits on the couch waiting for her ramen to cook.

"You look like you had fun all day." Izaya says sarcastically.

She nods. "Yep. I had a blast. There's just so much to do, you know?" She smiles and gets up from the couch. "You want some too?"

"I sort of just drank something on my way here." He says. "So no thanks."

She nods understandably and sits back down.

Izaya walks over to the kitchen to place some items in their rightful spots when suddenly, he hears rain. Out of pure instinct, he looks at her.

Rio's face lightens up, knowing she will be able to hear the rain louder from where she's sleeping now. Izaya looks away from her as he remembers everything about today.

Rio gets her bed ready and sits down to enjoy her food. He finishes up organizing everything and turns the light off from the kitchen. He looks over at her as she continues eating. He takes a deep breath in and walks over to her. "Mind if I sit?"

Rio finishes her noodle and moves over very quickly. More time to talk to him about many things. She'll cherish these moments forever.

He sits down next to her and looks at the newspaper covered window.

Moments pass and Rio sits awkwardly not knowing he wasn't really in the mood to talk. It's weird how he just wanted to sit next to her instead of locking himself in the room. That's something he most definitely would of done.

"So... What did you do all day? Some story telling will probably make me feel less bored when you come home every day." She says as she stirs her soup.

Izaya doesn't say anything for a while but then he turns his head towards her, " Trust me, nothing exciting ever happens when scavenging." And then he looks away from her again.

Rio pouts as she eats some more of the ramen. She's been here in his apartment for such a long time that she kind of feels like she failed at trying to show him that she's relatively interested on what he does all day. Or even about his past but that would feel like shredding on thin ice. Perhaps not since he never really seems to show that he's capable of feelings.

"What did _you_ do all day?" He asks her.

She quickly looks over at him as he said it. She starts thinking that maybe he's contemplating about something intense. He never really asks her what she's been up to so Rio thinks he's trying to get his mind off of things. She decides to help him out.

"I... Well I always make it a thought to try and clean this place up. It never goes anywhere since I'm trying to be responsible and stay away from that."

"Ah, so nothing exciting."

She shrugs and feels shivers as thunder muffles it's way into the room. The rain really is more enjoyable inside...

Silence fills the room once the thunder passes. She puts the cup of noodles close to his face, "please just have some... I feel bad just eating in front of you..."

He looks at her and smiles, "I really don't want any... Thank you."

She lowers the ramen away from his face and stares for too long with a worried expression on her face. He doesn't show any signs of looking away. He doesn't show anything. He's so hard to read.

All the more making her want to ask questions and wanting to know more about him. They're suppose to be friends even if she's leaving and even if he's done such horrible things.

"I've noticed it." She blurts out. He narrows his eyes at her but doesn't say anything. He covers his wound he got from that woman's brooch with his right hand. He frowns at himself for never wearing proper gear outside the walls. "Nothing really happened out there...?"

Izaya looks away and says, "I wasn't bit if that's what you're asking me."

"No, it's not."

"Then what is it...? What do you want me to say?"

Rio gets closer and places her hand lightly on his injured arm without thinking. After doing that for a second, she backs away from him and stays still. "I-I'm sorry..." She curses at herself. She can't get so close to him. She cannot step out of line. It's not right to make him think she cares about what he thinks about her. It's not right to make him think she'll be there when he needs it.

He was just as surprised as her and he sits up not taking his eyes off of her. She places the ramen cup on the coffee table awkwardly trying to brush off the tension. It was an attempt to stop him from staring... But it didn't work.

She looks back at him ready to say sorry again... When he reaches for her chin and leads her gently closer to him as she tastes the flavor of canned coffee.


	12. Time For Survival Part 10

The rain falls heavier on the building. There's thunder booming louder in the distance. Every single flash of light seems to last forever in such a small space. In such a closed up space.

Rio breaks apart from the small kiss first. She doesn't get up though. She knew that if she did, she'd fall over from the shock and trembling legs. He still holds onto her arms as he looks down at her. He had an expression that made Rio lost in her own thoughts. It was so unreadable. She couldn't understand if he did it just to see what would happen or if he did it to further keep his mind off of things.

She was quiet for such a long minute until she opens her mouth to say, "wh-what the hell are you doing...?"

He lets her go as she backs away from him but only a little bit.

He doesn't say anything. She asks him again but louder this time. Still no answer. Her hands shake as she tries holding them down away from his vision.

How can he do that to her...? _Why_ did he do that?

Her guesses from earlier will never be the right answer if he never tells her.

She feels her face become warm. She remembers that she may or may not have kissed him back ...

_Why?_

She gets up quickly and he calls her. She's deathly afraid to look back at him... Afraid she herself might act on what just happened.

"I... I didn't mean to do that. I was just caught up on everything that happened today... And I sort of just..." Rio looks back at him trying to hide her emotions as he ends his excuses with, "can... Can we forget this ever happened?"

She doesn't want to tell him he was her first. She doesn't want to let him know that she wouldn't of been bothered if he kissed her again. She just nods and makes her way to the bathroom. As she closes the door she feels the weight of her ankles give and she sits near the door to try and calm herself down.

:::::::Izaya::::

Once she was gone, Izaya gets up from the sofa and looks over at the window once more. Thunder sounds resonate with his calm heartbeat. This isn't something he wanted to find out this way. This isn't something that he will accept with full content.

He kissed her first but it was just half of him being an idiot and also him trying to see a reason as to why she now acts differently. In the end, he found something else entirely different. He sure played himself on this one.

Very quickly enough though... He knows for sure it'll be easy to forget. He's thinking for both himself and for her.

Yet... There's just something... That seemed to bother her from his actions...

He curses and picks up her blanket and pillow from the sofa. He walks to the bathroom and hesitates to knock. Once he did he says, "you can take my bed for the night. I'll leave your belongings in there for you."

He walks down the hall into his room and pulls out his sheet and pillow and sets hers down. Walking out, he sees her standing by the bathroom door. The sight of her made him stop fidgeting with his sheets and pillow. They exchange wordless stares through that endless time. It was as if he was staring at water and she at fire. He knows this will end when her ankle gets better... And she knows it'll end when she finally leaves tomorrow. She'll be ahead of schedule... And she feels like she's choosing the best decision right in that moment.

* * *

_She slept for too long._

**She overslept.**

How can she have let this happen?!

She frantically goes around the room putting things in her bag and quickly unfolding the written newspapers she collected from the corner of the rooms to throw outside. She took a fast shower and made his bed too. She places the backpack she sort of stole from under his bed on her shoulders. She made her way quickly to the exit but suddenly stops herself from walking. She takes in along breath. She looks back at the room, looking at everything there, and feels herself grow sad. She knows this is the best for both of them. She can't be anymore trouble to him.

She takes a deep breath in as she walks to the kitchen counter and sets down the note she wrote the minute she woke up. She smiles as she pats on the letter and seeks her way out.

She goes down many stairs trying to be careful with her ankle. She wasted so much time... Yet... She couldn't bring herself to exit the final door to the building.

She hasn't been outside since the day she came. She doesn't know what the outside holds for her.

Did she really think this through...?

She takes a deep breath in and goes with it. She's come this far. She can't drag this whole thing down with her.

Stepping out, she notices the many puddles everywhere from last night's rain shower. From the looks of the clouds, there's going to be another one. She hopes its not like this every time. She doesn't want the rain to become troublesome to her again.

As she rips her planned filled newspapers and throws them to the sky, she suddenly hears something in the distance. It gradually becomes louder. It sounds like a drill siren. All the more, it's starting to scare Rio. This is the first time she has heard this. What's the purpose of it? Who is sounding it?

She panics trying to think that maybe it's for her...?

Maybe someone spotted her and reported her...?

Rio quickly latched onto this idea and didn't know where to go.

She feels her lip tremble as she turns around naturally to go back...

She shakes her head and stops walking. She wouldn't be able to look at him the same way ever if she ever returns...

The sound is harsher and it builds more fear into her.

She swallows her pride. She moves towards the apartment building with a slight hesitation. If anything, she's praying to an unknown god hoping he hasn't returned first.

* * *

Entering the building, she can still hear the nightmare still ringing. Rio looks desperately everywhere... But Izaya still hasn't arrived. She quickly runs to the fridge as her heart beats rapidly and puts all the food she took back where they belong. She gets up and stores his backpack under his bed just where he left it. She sighs in relief and walks out of the room to enter the living room. This all doesn't solve the siren problem. What's that all about..? Could the walls have been breached...? Does that happen here?

The door suddenly opens and Izaya walks inside. Rio notices that it's still light out... Did he rush to get back here...? He normally never comes back here so early...

"A-are you okay?" Is the only thing she can manage to ask after what she almost tried to do..

Izaya looks at her but doesn't respond. He walks to a corner on his left where newspapers were scattered everywhere and unfolds a lot of them. He goes over to the window and covers it with more paper.

Chatty as usual.

She looks over at the counter and stops herself from gasping out loud. The thoughtful good bye letter still sits there ready to be read. She looks at him cautiously and walks over to it. She takes it and folds it over placing it on her sweater's small pocket. She smashes her fist inside to keep it from falling out.

"Rio, come here."

She looks up at him and frowns. She came back just to be ignored and told what to do...?

She goes over to him hesitantly and he takes her by the shoulder. His touch sends unwanted memories from what he did to her last night. She honestly didn't think twice about a relationship between them... All she ever cared about was that if they can get along as friends. Now, it's practically eating her alive and she can't calm herself around him. The worst part is... She can't understand why.

"Look over there."

She looks at to where he was pointing to. There's a long building that's pretty far from them. It's giving out a red light. She's guessing that there's where the noise is coming from.

"That's a deterrent post. There's about five in this entire place. It's only sounded when the seasons change, a month goes by, or for emergencies."

Rio looks closer. "How can you tell which one is which from all three of those...?"

He lets her shoulder go and she jumps lightly from it. "Usually it's, one long siren for seasons, two long sirens for a month, and two long sirens, with breaks in between, for emergencies."

Rio listens closely. "It's sort of unclear..."she says.

The siren is doing a long warning sound followed by two that have breaks in between. What could that mean...?

"Exactly. Everyone I was talking to just now found it odd so they just told everyone else to leave to their homes quickly in case it's an emergency bell instead of just the climate change."

Rio shakes as she turns towards him. "They've... Never done this type of drill..?"

"Not from the times I've been here. But don't worry too much on it. It's no surprise they're this unpredictable."

Rio doesn't feel safe leaving all on her own any more. It's like everyday she finds something new that's very disturbing to her. Where as... Here... With him... It's different.

She looks back at Izaya who stares outside scanning the area. She decides to step away from him. Maybe to try and distance herself from him.

She feels like staying... But not if she gets a head of herself or if she causes him trouble, which she has, (in her own words). There's just no way that he possibly cares for her other than someone he saved. It's incredible to her that a simple kiss made her believe that he might. It's not even something she was hoping all this time either... So maybe it'll be easy to drop it just as quick if she stays her distance for now and leave tomorrow when the time is better.

She walks off and says, "okay... I'm.. Done with the lesson..."

He stands back, pulling up the newspapers more onto the glass.

It suddenly became darker than before... It's odd how much sunlight means to the time. It's only the afternoon.

She walks to the kitchen and sits on the stool. She really does feel her ankle getting better... This isn't good...

"Rio. I have something for you."

:::::::::Izaya

She looks over at him with a tired expression. She's been acting strange the minute he got there. It's as if she really can't stop thinking about yesterday. He sighs and makes it over to the counter and pulls out something from his pocket.

"I believe this belongs to you." And he smiles gently.

She looks down at what he holds out to her... She softens her stressed face. She doesn't make a move. She just looks over at it thinking it's probably a figment of her imagination... But it's real...

Her family photo...

She touches it gently with her finger and then takes it from him.

She pauses in her words until she finally stammers out.

"N... No way... How.. How did you find it?"

"I asked around the day before yesterday. Today, I met up with whoever found your clothes and told me this was found in the clothing."

She gets up and doesn't take her eyes off it. "B-but why did you went through all that trouble? I said I was okay..." She says with a smile.

"Ah... You see, Rio, there was this heavy feeling in my chest."

"You mean guilt?" She says smirkingly.

"Let's not call it that. Call it something that means... I just know how to get anything."

"I... I just can't believe..."

And to think she was really going to leave... This really is a sign to stay. There's no better way to say it...

He does have feelings. He does have a way to show he feels guilty for doing something. Maybe this is a form of apology from yesterday night too. She'll take it and try not to bother him with that. She'll be good and stay put.

"Thank you so much!" She says and comes towards him. He becomes reluctant and tries stepping away from her closeness... But she already had her arms around his waist into a warming embrace. It was so uncalled for... And it made him remember about yesterday. From her actions, he assumes that she has gotten over it. It makes him feel heavy in some ways but he pulls through as he pats her on the head gently.

"You're welcome, Rio..." He says.

She realizes now that they're both humans that shouldn't of crossed but did at some point and now here they are. It's a weird feeling but she knows that he's only focused on one thing and so is she. Small kisses and embraces must mean nothing to both of them. She needs to remember this. She just has to...

She lets him go and stands up straight. She places the photo in her small pocket she has on her shirt and says good night. It's probably still a little too early to fall asleep... But Rio realizes that she almost probably hurt him today. She needs to reflect on what she's been thinking... And to try and forget about anything else.

Izaya looks as she leaves the room. He thinks to himself that perhaps he's been thinking all of this because he's been away from actually observing people for this long.

He turns towards the fridge when he notices something on the floor. He turns his head to the side and kneels down to pick it up. It's a small envelope.

How did this get here?

:::::: Rio:::

As soon as Rio took that small turn to go into the room, she relaxed a little bit.

She completely feels overwhelmed. She feels almost... Like a jerk.

She thought she was doing the right thing for the both of them but she now realizes that she was only making excuses to make herself feel better.

She walks into the room, going against the urge to close the door, and sits on the bed. She takes her family photo out of her pocket and finds herself asking them what she should do. It's something she hasn't done in a while. A long while.

She couldn't find an answer... And even laying down and looking at the ceiling didn't give her much of a better idea. Though, she knows this isn't rocket science. She wants to tell him everything. She wants to tell him about how her ankle is getting better now and also how she tried to leave... But... She's afraid of what he'll say and do. She's still afraid after everything that has happened.

Rio shakes her head and turns her body towards the windows. She should at least give him his bed back... He already apologized for yesterday with the photo...

Rio takes in a long breath. She feels overwhelmed from her thoughts... And drifts off to sleep.


	13. Time for Survival part 11

It's too painful to carry on her dreams... Even though it feels like she's been at it for sometime now...

She had good dreams and it only made her feel sick when she realized they were good. She feels like clearing the air with him will probably make her feel so much better regardless if he acts negative about her honesty.

She tries building courage inside of herself as she exits his room. She feels stiff as a board once she makes it to the hallway. She can hear him in the kitchen like he always is. She closes her eyes tightly and then walks into the living room. Opening her eyes, she sees him with some boxes. He makes eye contact with her but then carries on with what he was doing.

She felt just a little distance from that gesture but she manages to walk towards the counter and sit down. Rio notices how dark it is outside... She's been asleep for a while...

She opens her mouth to say something when she notices what was inside one of the boxes. It was a bottle of alcohol. Vodka perhaps...? How did he get this? Where did he gets this?

"Why do you have this here...?" She asks without thinking.

He takes his time to answer. He doesn't look at her not even once. It was like he just wanted to focus on one thing...

She looks back down at the bottle and he finally says, "it's just a drink. I thought maybe it was about time I ask for one."

"I didn't take you for a drinker..." She says.

In that moment he locks eyes with her. His smile was so dark. It was so open to her that something was wrong... But it made her too scared to ask.

She uncomfortably shifts her eyes towards the boxes again and then back at him. He notices her small struggle with what to say... And decides to help her out.

"You want some?" He asks.

She's startled by his offer. She sees him reach for the bottle and waits for her answer. Rio has never really touched alcohol... This makes her feel uneasy...

"I... I'm sort of too young to.."

"Really? You're going to tell me an 18 year old like yourself has never once wanted to try just a little bit?"

Rio saw no desire for it when everything in the world was normal. Suddenly... When everything turned to kill or be killed, it was like she needed something to keep her mind off of things. She thought about what would of given her that affect... Even for a little while...

She smiles and says," Just... A little bit won't hurt, right?"

She walks towards the sofa and sits down trying to think of a way to tell him about what she had on her mind the whole time she slept. Maybe in a moment where it seems like he's completely zoned out. Maybe that will work...

He brings small shot glasses with him and sets them on the table. He serves her some first and then fills his up slightly.

Rio begins to feel nervous. Maybe this isn't the best idea... What if she can't, for the life of her, hold her liquor?

"It just takes one gulp." He says and swallows the alcohol down like it's water. She stays frozen thinking of a way to drink her portion. "Man... Vodka was never my favorite. Though... It does has this bitter taste so I can't say I hate it."

She closes her eyes and takes a small sip to just try it out. Right off the bat she feels it in her nose and tongue. It stings just a little and the taste is unbearable. She wouldn't exactly call it a bitter taste. She swallows it and even then her throat still felt it. She clears her thoughts and sees she still has a lot more to drink.

"You don't like it?" He asks. "I can't blame you."

"It's... Alright..." She says trying to convince herself it wasn't that bad. She goes to take another sip when he calls her name quietly.

She looks over at him as he says, "how about we make things interesting?"

Rio doesn't follow and asks him what he means.

"Have you ever played this one game called 'I've never?'"

Rio suddenly got a bad feeling about what brought this on... But she couldn't care less at that very moment... He... Wants her to know more about him...? This is something she has been wanting...!

She lowers the glass away from her face and says, "I've played it a lot when I was out in the forest with my group. No one really took it seriously though..." She quietly laughs at the memory on the suggestions her last group would lay out for the game. You can so tell which stories were lies and it was funny to see people actually put down their fingers to mess with everyone.

"Only... You played it with the usual five or ten fingers, right?"

Rio nods and waits for him to continue explaining. He gets up from the sofa and sits down on the floor next to his small coffee table. He makes himself comfortable and then signals for her to sit down on the floor too. She presses her lips together and does what she is told. She places her drink on the table and notices him serving himself some more.

"So the drinking version of this is simple. You say "never have I ever", or "I've never" for short, and then say a statement of some kind. The usual thing comes next that when you did the action at some point in your life, instead of putting a finger down, you take a drink."

Rio listens more and more and it makes her worried. She doesn't understand why her gut feeling is telling her that this just isn't a good idea...

Perhaps it's just because she knows she'll be the one getting tipsy much faster than he will. This isn't a fair fight.

"I'll start if you want me to." He says.

Rio holds her urge to stop this from going further and nods.

He thinks for a while and then finally he says, " I've never gotten anything lower than a C on any of my tests back in high school."

Rio waits a bit, trying hard to remember, and she gives him a smile as she drinks some of the vodka to the best of her ability.

"Ah." He says as he points at her. "I knew it."

"You got lucky this time." She says and realizes it's her turn. She thinks hard, trying to think of something good, and finally got one that is subtle. " I have never drank alcohol until now."

He gives her a cheeky grin and drinks. "I didn't do it often back then." He says. "But sometimes it was necessary."

"You're the type to drink your problems away?" She's asks.

He leans back on the sofa and looks at her. "I suppose you can say that."

She didn't feel like he meant it. He's more of a mystery now than ever. When she feels like she knows him somewhat, he turns around and changes entirely. He's very odd.

"I've never broken my ankle from tripping on a plug to a lamp before."

Rio drinks a little and kicks him lightly under the table. "You should try it sometime. It's real fun."

Izaya pours more to his drink and she starts thinking again.

"I... Have never..." She catches herself. She was about to say she has never kissed anyone before... But she has... And he's sitting right in front of her. She looks up at him and softens her shoulders. To this moment, she still has no idea why he did that. It makes her sad thinking about how she was so scared to the point of wanting to leave...

Though, she wasn't exactly scared of him... She was scared of what she would do if she ever caught feelings for him.

"Rio?"

She stiffens her shoulders again and closes her eyes, "I-I have never... Loved someone romantically before..."

It was quiet suddenly.

She opens her eyes and he stays where he is. He doesn't lean in to take a drink. She sinks low seeing him this way. Just the idea that he never loved anyone...

"You... Never-"

"You'll have to take the drink since I didn't drink to your statement." He says, interrupting her.

Rio frowns and stands on her knees. "Y-you're changing the game rules!"

"Actually, that's a real rule. _Sorry for not telling you about it earlier but I'm telling you now so isn't that what matters_?"

She heavily breathes as she stares down at him... And she finally sits down to take another drink from the disgusting beverage.

"I've never killed a living person before."

The brunette hesitates as she barely finished drinking for the last statement. She looks at him knowing that that is a personal statement. It's how the game is played but... Doesn't he think that's going too far?

At this point, her smile is officially wiped off and he studies her as she stares back at him. She raises the glass to her face giving him a soft glare and drinks whatever is left of the whole glass. He cracks a small smile and then he drinks with her. Rio slowly widens her eyes.

He puts the glass away from his mouth and quietly says, "...I guess we're both not on the nice list this year..." He then takes the bottle as she stares at him and pours more for her, "you've been the one taking more drinks out of both of us. How about you give details?"

Rio feels her stomach turn as he said that. "No thank you." She feels her face burn up with rage. How insensitive of him!

"I'll tell you if you want to know-"

"Not even a little." She says in a serious tone.

He stops fiddling with her emotions as he waits for her statement. Rio didn't want to continue the game if he's going to act this way. She has noticed his cocky change in attitude. It's very annoying.

But... In the end... She has to do what he says. She doesn't have a choice.

She thinks deep and just says whatever came to her mind.

"I..., and I'm so glad for this..., have never been in that situation where I have to save someone who doesn't seem like they'll make it." Rio says. She has only witnessed deaths in front of her and amongst other things... But she really is glad she never had to do that.

Izaya rubs his glass with his thumb. Rio suddenly hiccups and her face becomes more red.

He could just say he has never seen that happen just to get her to drink more... But in the end... He took the drink. Rio freezes and looks at his glass and then at him. "I...I'm so sorry..." She notices that he probably does that a lot since he's alway out of the walls helping people. How can she have forgotten that?!

"It's okay. It would of been worse if I had known her longer, I guess."

Rio doesn't like the way Izaya talks about people most of the time. He never talks about the other four that came first before her. Though, she already feels like he didn't really care much about them at all...

He sits back and relaxes his muscles. She was still thinking of the four and wondering if they still talk to him like she had hoped when she almost ran away from here. That is... If they're still alive here...

He calls her by her name and she gives him her full attention as he blurts out, "Did you really forget about the kiss that fast?"

Rio slowly stiffens herself after he said that so casually. She trembles at her legs trying to think of what to say. She then angrily says out loud, "Wh-what do you mean? You told me to get over it. I'm just doing you a favor!"

He sees her face become redder and she tries hiding it with her hair. Izaya only brought it up because she made him remember about if after stating that for the game. He notices that she's completely in the dark. He's making her confused by the second.

He sighs and says, "You're right. I'm sorry for getting you fluster-"

"I am not flustered!"

Izaya shuts his mouth and puts up his hands to his chest level as to say 'take it easy.'

She closes her eyes tight trying to calm herself down. She hasn't showed this side to anyone before. Now the alcohol is spilling all her secrets.

"What I meant to say was..." He starts "the reason I bring it up is because I feel like you have the right to know what was going through my mind when I did it. It took me time to realize this."

Rio shakes her head to disagree. She does not want to know. He could of told her before but he didn't. She wants to forget it like he had asked her to do.

He thinks for a while and then puts a hand out on the table to get her to listen to him. "I want you to know. It was for a legitimate reason that I can't really put my finger on. Will you help me?"

Rio freezes not knowing what to say.

Perhaps if they talk about this, she can tell him easily about what she had planned to do and tell him they're pretty much even now.

She presses her lips together and nods.

He smiles and sits back on the sofa. Rio waits for him as she takes the vodka bottle in her hand and pours him some more.

"It happened yesterday." He says. The seriousness of his tone gave Rio shivers. "I was distracted the whole day... I was out of the walls scouting when I hear someone yelling. That guy who helped me get you out of the woods was there with me but I ran off first... I guess that was my first mistake..."

Rio's hands start to clam up. She wanted to stop him from talking... Perhaps it hurts him a little to remember but she can never tell with him. She's just not good at reading people like she thought she was...

"I ran to the nearest river" he continues, "and saw her there yelling for my help. I go to her telling her everything was going to be okay like I knew everything."

He pauses and then he shifts where he sits. He thinks about going on... But he's come this far already...

"_She was yelling too loud..._" He says.

Rio swallows and stays completely still. "She was being followed by this heard of biters and my job was to take her out of the river because I thought she was stuck..." He finally looks up at Rio for a moment. "She was bit on both legs. She really thought she was still able to walk. I didn't know what to do... I just stayed there." He waited for a moment. Rio didn't want to stop hearing his story anymore. "My soldier friend helped me out of the situation, but we got cornered in no time. He yelled at me to leave her and... I was still stuck on what to do. I wanted to get out of there with everyone alive even if it meant ending her life myself... But then it happened... They took her away from me and I tried reaching for her." He slowly makes a sad smile. "But then he shot her before I can get to her.. And I was taken away from there."

Rio waits for more but realizes that was it. She had no idea he witnessed that all in one day. She was going to leave the next day. She was going to leave him.

She shakes at her hands. Now she does not want him to know. She doesn't want him to ever find out.

"You know it's funny... I felt like it was a sign." He says. Rio shivers again. She didn't notice she is holding her breath. "I felt like something was going to happen eventually to you... But I never really knew how or in what way." Rio is transfixed in his stare. She can't look away. "I suppose... You can call it in a way that I was alert on losing you."

. . .

She shifts and stands up only to have her head spin from the alcohol and she sits back down...

So he kissed her because he thought something might of happened to her? Does he really care about her that much?

"You were scared of losing me?" She asked without thinking.

"That's what I'm not sure of. I could of had someone else in my mind."

"But you didn't, did you?" She catches herself asking too much questions and raises her hands to his face. "D-don't answer that."

He smiles and sits up to place his elbows on the table. She backs up and sits on the floor again. They keep the room silent. They don't think of something to say. He's thinking about how if it really was a good idea to tell her... And her thoughts are clouded with thoughts about him. She becomes red and places her hands on her face. She didn't want to admit to it, but he has made his way into her. Maybe it's just the alcohol making her think this way.

"I want to continue the game since it's my turn." He states. Rio nods her head and listens to him still hiding away in her hands.

Izaya looks up at her. She has had enough to drink... She looks so light and completely away from the planet. She looks troubled.

He places his drink on the left and leans closer to her over the table. She takes her hands away from her face and sees his approach. She gasps lowly and tries backing up but he grabs onto her wrist very lightly as to say 'don't go'. He pulls her in and she smells his vodka filled breath. She felt her insides go heavy and her eyes close tightly. She involuntarily touches his sleeve and tugs at it 'I won't.'.

He starts his next statement as if he didn't even have to think of it.

_"I've never tried betraying someone who helped me out before."_

* * *

_Hello! It's emilyartstudios just wondering if there's any prompts that my readers especially love that I can make for Izaya and Rio? I feel like everytime I start something for them, it winds up being so bland. I need maybe enthusiasm from someone that really wants this AU or that small moment that would go great because it's actually in character or something._

_let me know and I'll pick the ones that I can actually write about since I'm so not 100% the best at this most of the time lolol_

_again, thank you so much for reading and I hope to write for my other story as well (art block is so bad to it honestly)_


End file.
